Elder Paisios the Athonite 1924-1994
[D]o not read rebellious books or pamphlets that mention Church matters if you wish to be calm, since you are not responsible for such serious affairs. You have need of books that will assist in your repentance. If you want to help the Church, correct yourself, and immediately amendment is made to a small part of the Church. Naturally, if everyone did this, then the Church would be put in order.
Therefore, limit yourself to the Patristic writings I mentioned and avoid sappy and superficial books by contemporary writers, who use long titles to provoke spiritual interests. One gets tired only by reading them, just like the cow, when its stall is full of straw, tires of chewing and ruminating its food all day long, and in the end does not produce even one glass of milk. (First Epistle: For Beginners)
