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The Medieval Church · c. 1121–1125
On the Steps of Humility and Pride
Bernard of Clairvaux · 1090–1153
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What it is
Benedict's twelve steps of humility read in reverse as twelve steps of pride, each a recognisable social type from the monk who fidgets to the one who rebels openly.
Why it lasted
Bernard's first book and still the funniest — a satirist's eye applied to the ways religious people go wrong.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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