Jerome : "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. "If you remove the words which are given by the one shepherd, related by the advice and agreement of the wise, do nothing and nothing will be reproved you; follow in the footsteps of the multitude and do not diverge from their command. Then too for him who seeks to know many things there is a great number of books that will lead him to wickedness and make the reader toil in vain. But he also teaches that you must have enthusiasm and follow meanings more than the words themselves, the opposite that philosophers and teachers of this world teach, who try to assert the falsities of their doctrines with flamboyant and unnecessary language. On the other hand divine scripture is restricted by the small quantity of what is written, and however much it is enlarged by people's opinions it is restricted by the text itself. This is because the Lord has made speech concise and brief all over the world, and His word is the same when it is spoken in our mouth and our heart. [Cfr. Deut. 30, 14; Rom. 10, 8.] Differently: read often, then consider what you have read daily, there is usually more toil of the mind that that of the body. For just as whatever you do with your hand and body is filled with the toil of the hand and the body, so that which pertains to reading is more the toil of the mind. It seems to me from this that the above points from the several books must be considered differently to the way in which many believe them to be. It is the custom of the Scriptures that, no matter how many books there are, if they all follow the same matter are have few differences, then we can say that they are one book. In this way the Gospel and the "immaculate law of the Lord, converting spirits" [Ps. 18, 8.] are called one, although there are several books in the Gospel and there are many laws. In this way too there is one volume of Isaiah, and all of the divine Scripture has one title; Ezekiel [Cfr. Ez. 3, 1-3.] and John [Cfr. Apoc. 10, 9.] are also many books in one book. The Saviour too prophesied in the holy words, saying, "in the title of the Book is written about me" [Ps. 39, 9.]. According to this meaning therefore I think it is a teaching that there should not be too many books. For whatever you say, if it is told to him who was with God in the beginning, the word then is God [Cfr. Ioh. 1, 2.], as one volume, and the many books are the one law, which is called the Gospel. But if you argue that they are varied and differ too much to be in the same volume, and look at them with too much curiosity, even within each book you will see that there are many books. They say about this: "you may not escape the sin of saying too much" [Prov. 10, 19.]. Therefore there is no end to such books, for all is good and the ending locks in truth, but wickedness and lying have no end. And the more they are sought, the more they come about. Study and consideration of this is toil of the body. I say of the body here and not of the spirit. But the spirit even has toil according to what the apostle says: "the more I worked for all these, not I, but the grace of God which was with me" [I Cor. 15, 10.], and the Saviour says, "I worked shouting" [Ps. 68, 4.]. — Commentary on Ecclesiastes Origen of Alexandria : I, for my part, am inclined to shrink from toil and to avoid that danger which threatens from God those who give themselves to writing on divinity; thus I would take shelter in Scripture in refraining from making many books. For Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, "My son, beware of making many books; there is no end of it, and much study is a weariness of the flesh." For we, except that text have some hidden meaning which we do not yet perceive, have directly transgressed the injunction; we have not guarded ourselves against making many books. — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF John 5, PREFACE Origen of Alexandria : First of all, we set forth the command from Ecclesiastes: "My son, beware of making many books." I juxtapose for comparison with this the saying from the Proverbs of the same Solomon, who says, "In a multitude of words you will not escape sins, but you will be wise if you restrain your lips." And I inquire, therefore, if speaking many words, regardless of what they are, is being loquacious, even if the many words are holy and pertain to salvation? For if this is the way things are, and if he who expounds many beneficial things is loquacious, Solomon himself has not escaped the sin. — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF John 5:4