Those who prefer the eternal to the temporal are hardly to be found

Spirituality

Pope St. Leo the Great: “And thus is perfectly fulfilled that assurance of the Truth, by which we learn that ‘narrow and steep is the way that leads to life’; and whilst the breadth of the way that leads to death is crowded with a large company, the steps are few of those that tread the path of safety. And wherefore is the left road more thronged than the right, save that the multitude is prone to worldly joys and carnal goods? And although that which it desires is short-lived and uncertain, yet men endure toil more willingly for the lust of pleasure than for love of virtue. Thus while those who crave things visible are unnumbered, those who prefer the eternal to the temporal are hardly to be found.” (Sermon 49, 5th century)