History and philosophy have eternal duties, which are, at the same time, simple duties; to combat Caiphas the High-priest, Draco the Lawgiver, Trimalcion the Legislator, Tiberius the Emperor; this is clear, direct, and limpid, and offers no obscurity.
But the right to live apart, even with its inconveniences and its abuses, insists on being stated and taken into account. Cenobitism is a human problem.
When one speaks of convents, those abodes of error, but of innocence, of aberration but of good-will, of ignorance but of devotion, of torture but of martyrdom, it always becomes necessary to say either yes or no.
A convent is a contradiction. Its object, salvation; its means thereto, sacrifice. The convent is supreme egoism having for its result supreme abnegation.
To abdicate with the object of reigning seems to be the device of monasticism.
In the cloister, one suffers in order to enjoy. One draws a bill of exchange on death. One discounts in terrestrial gloom celestial light. In the cloister, hell is accepted in advance as a post obit on paradise.
The taking of the veil or the frock is a suicide paid for with eternity.
It does not seem to us, that on such a subject mockery is permissible. All about it is serious, the good as well as the bad.
The just man frowns, but never smiles with a malicious sneer. We understand wrath, but not malice.
历史和哲学负有多种永恒的责任。同时也是简单的责任，斗争大祭司该亚法①、法官德拉孔②、立法官特利马尔西翁③、皇帝提比利乌斯④，毫无疑义，那是明显、直接而清楚的。但是独居的权利以及它的一些不利之处和种种弊端，却必须加以研究和慎重对待。寺院生活是人类社会的一个重大问题。
①该亚法（Caiphe），迫害耶稣的犹太大祭司。
②德拉孔（Dracon），公元前七世纪末雅典的酷吏。
③特利马尔西翁（Trimalcion），一世纪拉丁作家伯特洛尼所作小说《萨蒂尼翁》里的一个色情人物。
④提比利乌斯（Tibère，前42?7），罗马帝国暴君。
修院是这样一种场所，既荒谬而又清净无垢，既使人误入歧途却又劝人存心为善，既使人愚昧又使人虔诚，既使人备受苦难又使人为之殉教，当我们谈到它时，几乎每次都要说又对又不对。
修院是一种矛盾，其目的是为了幸福，其方式是牺牲。修院表现的是极端的自私，而结果是极端的克己。
以退为进，这好象是僧侣制度的座右铭。
在修院里，人们以受苦为达到欢乐的途径。人们签发由死神兑现的期票。人们在尘世的黑暗里预支天上的光明。在修院里，地狱生活是当作换取天堂的代价而被人接受的。
戴上面纱或穿上僧衣是一种取得永生的自杀。
在这样一种问题前，我们感到嘲笑是不能允许的。这里无论好坏全是严肃的。
公正的人蹙起眉头，但从不会有那种恶意的微笑。我们能理解人的愤怒，而不能理解恶意的中伤。
