Gluttony and the Eagle

There is an admirable illustration of this passion, which is sure to hamper a monk however spiritual and excellent he may be, in the picture of the eagle. When this bird in its high flight has soared above the highest clouds, and has hidden itself from the eyes of all mortals and from the face of the whole earth, it is still compelled by the needs of its belly to drop down to the earth and feed on carrion and dead bodies. This clearly shows that the spirit of gluttony cannot be rooted out altogether like all the other faults, nor entirely destroyed as they can be. We can only hold down and check all its incentives and all superfluous appetites by the power of the mind.