A Ruined House

Εἶπε πάλιν· Ἐπικίνδυνον, τὸν μὴ διὰ τοῦ πρακτικοῦ βίου ἀναχθέντα διδάσκειν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐὰν ᾗ τις οἰκίαν ἔχων σαθρὰν, ξένους ὑποδεξάμενος, βλάψει τῇ πτώσει τοῦ οἰκήματος, οὕτως καὶ τοὺς προσελθόντας αὐτοῖς ἀπώλεσαν· τοῖς μὲν γὰρ λόγοις συνεκάλεσαντο εἰς σωτηρίαν, τῇ δὲ τοῦ τρόπου κακίᾳ τοὺς ἀθλητὰς μᾶλλον ἠδίκησαν. Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Ελενουπόλεως

Again Mother Syncletica said, 'It is dangerous for anyone to teach who has not first been trained in the practical life of virtue. For just as if someone who owns a ruined house receives guests there does harm to them because of the dilapidation of the dwelling, so he untrained causes damage to those who come to him. For by words one may call men to salvation, but by evil behaviour one injures them.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia