Nothing is more contrary to salvation, and the devil’s greatest triumph is to sow black and bitter thoughts in the heart of a good man.
 Anatole France, Thaïs (1890). copy citation

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Author Anatole France
Source Thaïs
Topic salvation heart
Date 1890
Language English
Reference
Note Translated by Robert B. Douglas
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2078/2078-h/2078-h.htm

Context

“Brother Paphnutius, I am but a miserable sinner, but I have found, in my long life, that the cenobite has no foe worse than sadness. I mean by that the obstinate melancholy which envelopes the soul as in a mist, and hides from us the light of God. Nothing is more contrary to salvation, and the devil’s greatest triumph is to sow black and bitter thoughts in the heart of a good man. If he sent us only pleasurable temptations, he would not be half so much to be feared. Alas! he excels in making us sad. Did he not show to our father Anthony a black child of such surpassing beauty that the very sight of it drew tears?” source