Isaiah the Solitary

Abba Isaiah the Solitary was one of the Desert Fathers quoted in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers).

Quotes

Ward, Benedicta (1984). The sayings of the Desert Fathers: the alphabetical collection. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications.

• Abba Isaiah said, 'Nothing is so useful to the beginner as insults. The beginner who bears insults is like a tree that is watered every day.'
  • Saying 1

• The same Abba Isaiah called one of the brethren, washed his feet, put a handful of lentils into the pot and brought them to him as soon as they had boiled.
  The brother said to him, 'They are not cooked, Abba.'
  The old man replied, 'Is it not enough simply to have seen the fire? That alone is a great consolation.'
  • Saying 6