Against the thought [of fornication] another old man who dwelt in the desert used to say, “You wish to live while you are asleep! Go, and labour. Go, and work. Go, seek, and you shall find. Awake and stand up. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For there are in the world athletes who are called pugilists, who smite each other, and who are held to be worthy of the victory because they fight persistently and endure; these men do not withdraw defeated when they are wounded, for however many times one [of them] may be smitten by two [others], and however [many may be] the blows which he will suffer from them, he continues to fight, and he conquers and is crowned.”

[Apophthegmata Patrum]