"For our goal is not merely the purification of the passions: this by itself is not real virtue, but preparation for virtue. To purification from vicious habits must be added the acquisition of the virtues... For after abandoning what is evil, one must practice what is good. One must first deny oneself and then, taking up the cross, must follow the Master towards the supreme state of deification."

St. Theodoros the Great Ascetic

Quoted in "On the Holy Apostles" by St. Sergius Mechev in "Orthodox Life" Volume 66 No. 1, January - February 2015