St Peter of Damascus - Sit in your own cell and your cell will teach you all things...

Sit in your own cell', it has been said, ‘and your cell will teach you all things.’
Or as St Basil puts it, ‘Stillness initiates the soul’s purification’.

It is also true that Solomon says, ‘God has given noxious distraction to the sons of men, so that they may be distracted by vain things’ (cf. Eccles. 1:3).

This is to prevent their mindless and impassioned inertia from dragging them down into what is even worse.

St Peter of Damascus