Eat not the bread of him that is stingy, neither desire you his delicacies:
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Basil the Great
AD 379
Wise, therefore, was he who forbids us even to dine in company with an envious man, and in mentioning this companionship at table, he implies a reference to all other social contacts as well. Just as we are careful to keep material which is easily inflammable as far away as possible from fire, so we must refrain insofar as we can from contracting friendships in circles of which envious persons are members. By so doing, we place ourselves beyond the range of their shafts. We can be caught in the toils of envy only by establishing intimacy with it. .
Counsels. "Consult many what ought to be done, but only a few of the most faithful, or rather thyself alone, what thou art about to do. "(Veget. iii. 9., and 27.)
