Some of the people of God were asked about the most helpful thing a servant can find in allaying desires. He said: Fasting during the day and praying at night, eliminating desires and neglecting them, and abandoning self-talk to mention them. He was told that a man fasts during the day and stays awake at night and does not eat desires, but he finds movement and turmoil in his soul. So he said to him: This is from the excess of the virtue of a desire residing in him from the beginning, so let him cut off the causes of matter, including his effort, and keep them from himself with worries and sorrows, and calm their power with remembrance of death, the nearness of life, the shortness of hope, and what preoccupies the hearts. Cut off desires from yourself and receive the supervision of the one who is a watcher over you, and maintain the obedience of the one who is a judge over you. We ask God Almighty. Success in reaching the path and getting out of every distress. He is strong an