“NOTHING else is wanted to cause a boat which is launched on a fast-flowing river, to be carried away by the stream and swallowed up in the waters, than that rowers should cease to ply their oars, but if the boat is going against the current, strenuous exertion on the part of the crew is required to bring it to its destination. So it is with man; he needs but to give way to the frailty of his corrupt nature to be borne to eternal perdition; but to contend agains the forces of his passions, the seductions of the world, and the temptations of the devil, and guide his bark to the haven of everlasting felicity, calls for no slight effort on his part. ‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence’ (Matt, xi. 12). The path of virtue is a difficult ascent, not an easy descent. Virtue is not won in times of peace, but of warfare. Many appear to be virtuous, but are not so in reality, because their virtue costs them nothing.”
— Rev. Francis Spirago, The Catechism Explained: An Exhaustive Exposition of the Christian Religion
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