“Rigid, harsh, sour, crabbed, rough-hewn spirits are unfit for union. There is no sweetness, no amiableness, no pleasantness in them; they please themselves in a rugged austereness, but are pleasing to no one else in all their ways. They will abate nothing of their own, nor yield anything to others (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 194).
Cold Snakes
“The lusts of men’s hearts are like a bed of snakes in the cold, but the heat of passion warming them causes them to crawl and hiss” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 184).
So Much Venom
“But envy only opposes that which is good, and all good; therefore there is nothing in it but evil and an universal evil . . . all the poison in the old serpent is in this sin, as if it had emptied itself of its poison and vomited it in this sin; so much venom …
The Sin With No Name
“This is a very shameful distemper. Some men will occasionally confess that they fear other men, and others that they love not other men, or that they condemn others; but no man will acknowledge that he envies others” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 180).
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Envious men “are like flies that love to be upon sores . . . When you see a man seeking to rake and gather together all he can of any distempers, disorders, mistakes, or miscarriages, by hearsay, letters, or in any other way, he does it so that he may fill up his dung cart. …
No, Really. What is It?
“Envy is a squint-eyed fool” (Jeremiah Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 178).
Feeding the Beast
“You will say, ‘These were wont to be very entire friends. How came they to break? What has either of them done? What unkindness has befallen them?’ None at all, only that principle of self was not so fully fed as it desired to be. Upon that they began to be reserved, and so strange, …
Sides and Parts
“It is not peace but party that they mind. The greater part of their studies is to study sides and parts” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 168).
Hatred of Competition
“Last, one proud man is very discerning in the discovery of pride in another. Though he entertains it in his own bosom, yet he hates it in others whereever he sees it. This is a peculiar curse upon this sin. One drunkard loves another, one whoremaster another, but one proud man hates another” (Burroughs, Irenicum, …
The Standing Veto
“Many among us have no other reason why they oppose good motions but because they were not first in them. They are loath to break the ice, to begin a good work if they see any difficulty in it, and yet the cause of God must not go on, indeed Christ must not be admitted, …