Chapter LXXV. How he Willed Expressly that Friars Labour Now and Then with their Hands

HE used to say that lukewarm ones who did not apply themselves to any task busily and humbly would quickly be spewed out from the mouth of the Lord; so that no idle man could appear before him, without being immediately attacked with biting tooth. And thus he, the example of all perfection, laboured humbly with his hands, permitting nothing of the best gift of time to flow to waste. For he said, "I wish all my friars to labour and be exercised humbly in good works, that we be the less burdensome to men, and that neither heart nor tongue may wander in ease. But let those who know nothing learn to work." For he used to say that the profit and reward of the labour should not be left to the will of the labourer, but to the judgment of the warden or the community*