A brother asked Abba Sisoes, saying, "What shall I do, father? For I have fallen." The old man said unto him, "Rise up"; and the brother said unto him, "I did rise up, but I fell again." The old man said unto him, "Rise up again"; and the brother said unto him, "I did rise up again, many times, and I fell [again]." The-old man said unto him, "Rise up again"; and the brother said unto him, "Until when?" The old man said unto him, "Until thou advancest, either in good deeds or in falling; for in the road wherein a man advanceth he goeth, whether it be to death or to life."
Reference: The paradise or garden of the holy fathers: the counsels of the holy men and the questions & answers of the ascetic brethern generally known as the sayings of the fathers of egypt, Volume 2 by Saint Athanasius (Patriarch of Alexandria). Chatto & Windus, London, 1907. 139.
