"Satan doesn’t bother with a worthless person; he goes after the one who struggles spiritually, in order to tempt him and make him worthless. He doesn’t waste time doing delicate work on someone who doesn’t have any delicate work of his own.
To the one who sews with a sack-needle, he sends a demon with big needles.
To the one who does fine handwork, he sends a demon who does fine handwork.
To the one who makes very delicate embroidery, he sends a demon who makes very delicate work.
To those who do coarse work on themselves, he sends a coarse demon.
To beginners he sends beginner demons.
People who have a sensitive soul and great nobility of soul need to be very careful, because the devil slips his tail in and makes them even more sensitive — he can lead them to melancholy or even — God forbid! — to suicide.
The devil never acts contrary to a person’s nature: although he makes us humans go against our fellow men and quarrel with each other,
- to the lazy one he makes him even lazier, comforting him with the thought: “Your head hurts, you’re not in the mood. It’s no big deal if you don’t get up to pray.”
- to the devout one he makes him even more devout — so that he can throw him into pride, or pushes him to struggle beyond his strength, exhausting him until he later abandons all his spiritual weapons, so that the former great ascetic may surrender completely.
- to the hard-hearted he makes even harder, and to the sensitive — exaggeratedly sensitive.
And look how many people are tormented by insomnia and take medicine — some because they have a certain sensitivity, others because they have shaken their nerves badly. It is rare to see a truly balanced person nowadays. People have become like batteries. Most of them seem charged with electricity. Those who do not go to confession receive demonic influences; they carry a demonic magnetism because the devil has power over them.
Very few people — whether young men, young women, or the elderly — still have a pure gaze.
Demonization! Do you know what demonization means? It means not being able to get along with the world anymore."
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos