Holy Men Are Not Hard and Stubborn

Nor must we overlook the value of that command. Even if we have bound ourselves by some oath under the influence of anger or some other passion, a thing a monk ought never to do, the case for each side should still be weighed by a thorough judgment of the mind. The course we had decided on should be compared with the one we are being urged to take, and when sounder considerations come up we should adopt without hesitation whichever is judged best. For it is better to set our promise aside than to suffer the loss of something good and more desirable. In fact, we never remember venerable and approved fathers being hard and unyielding in decisions of this kind. Like wax under heat, they were shaped by reason, and when sounder counsel prevailed they did not hesitate to give way to the better side. But those we have seen clinging stubbornly to their decisions we have always counted unreasonable and lacking in judgment.