They said of Abba Isidore the Priest that once a brother came to invite him to a meal. The elder refused to go, saying, “Adam was deceived through food and was made to dwell outside paradise.” The brother said to him, “Are you altogether afraid to leave your cell?” He replied, “My son, I am afraid, because the devil, like a roaring lion, seeks whom he may devour.” He often also said, “If a person gives himself to drinking wine, he will not escape the assault of thoughts. For Lot, compelled by his daughters, became drunk with wine, and through drunkenness the devil easily prepared him for unlawful fornication.”
Abba Isidore said, “If you desire the kingdom of heaven, despise money and claim the divine reward.”
Abba Isidore said, “It is impossible to live according to God while loving pleasure and money.”
Abba Isidore said, “If you fast according to rule, do not become proud. If you are going to be puffed up because of it, it would be better for you to eat meat. It is better for a person to eat meat than to be swollen with pride and boastfulness.”
Abba Isidore said, “Disciples ought to love true teachers as fathers and fear them as rulers. Love should not weaken fear, nor should fear obscure love.”
Abba Isidore said, “If you desire salvation, do everything that leads to it.”
They said of Abba Isidore that when a brother came to visit him, he would withdraw farther into his cell. The brothers said, “Abba, what are you doing?” He replied, “Wild animals flee to their dens and are saved. I do this for the brothers’ benefit.”