On Prayer 28.2

The like must be understood of our debts to the brothers, both those born again with us in Christ according to the word of piety, and those born of the same mother or the same father as we. There is also a debt toward fellow citizens, and another common one toward all men, especially toward strangers and those who are of an age to be our fathers, and another toward some whom it is reasonable to honor as sons or as brothers. The one, then, who does not do what is owed to his brothers remains a debtor for what he has not done. So too, if we fall short in what the loving spirit of wisdom lays upon us toward men, the debt becomes greater. And also in what concerns ourselves, we owe it to use the body in a certain way, not wearing away the flesh of the body through love of pleasure; and we owe it to the soul to give it a certain care, and to take thought for the sharpness of the mind and for our speech, that it may be without sting, beneficial, and never idle. And when we do not do what we owe to ourselves, the debt becomes heavier for us.