Three Kinds of Virtue

Now, there are three kinds of virtue by which possession of the kingdom of heaven is secured. The first is chastity, the second is contempt of the world, and the third is righteousness. When they are joined together, they are of very great benefit to those who have them; but when they are separated, they can hardly be of any use, since each one of them is required not only for its own sake but for the sake of another. First of all, then, chastity is required, so that contempt of the world may follow more easily, because the world can be despised more easily by those who are not held fast in the bonds of marriage. Contempt of the world, in turn, is required so that righteousness may be maintained, for those who are tangled up in desires for worldly advantages and in the pursuit of earthly pleasures can hardly keep it in full.

So whoever has the first kind of virtue, chastity, but does not also have the second, contempt of the world, has the first almost to no purpose, since he lacks the second, for whose sake the first was required. And if anyone has the first and the second but is without the third, which is righteousness, he labors in vain, since the first two are required chiefly for the sake of the third. For what good is it to have chastity for the sake of contempt of the world, and yet not to have the very thing for whose sake you have the other? Or why should you despise the things of the world if you do not keep righteousness, for whose sake you ought to have both chastity and contempt of the world? For just as the first kind of virtue exists for the sake of the second, and the second for the sake of the third, so the first and the second together exist for the sake of the third; and if the third is not there, neither the first nor the second will be of any benefit.