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170. The Precepts of Temperance

1. The Ten Commandments are precepts of temperance inasmuch asthey make for moderation and right order in human conduct.Inspecial, the sixth and ninth commandments are precepts oftemperance, for they forbid inordinateness of sex in deed anddesire, and this is something directly pertinent to temperance.

2. The precepts of the virtues allied to temperance as itsparts are also found in the Decalogue. For, though theparts of temperance refer directly to a man's selfrather than to God and neighbor, as the Ten Commandments do, yettheir effects reach out to others, and this fact bringsthem under the preceptive force of the commandments. Thus anger,for instance, may lead to murder; pride may lead to the dishonoringof parents, and to sins directly against God. Thus the effects ofsins opposed to the parts of temperance may come under thecommandments directly.

"The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely will you be judged, unless your life is also the more holy. Do not be proud, therefore, because of your learning or skill. Rather, fear because of the talent given you."
Thomas á Kempis

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"Those who love God are always happy, because their whole happiness is to fulfill, even in adversity, the will of God."
St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"The name of Jesus, pronounced with reverence and affection, has a kind of power to soften the heart. "
St Philip Neri

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