Dejection and Acedia Arise Within

Dejection and acedia generally arise without any provocation from outside, of the kind that stirs up the faults we have just been speaking of. For we know well that they often harass those who live alone, and those who have settled in the desert without any dealings with other people, and this in the most distressing way. Anyone who has lived in the desert and has tested the conflicts of the inner man can easily prove the truth of this by experience. [a]