For that abstinence with which you exhaust yourself here, your beauty will be radiant in the bridal chamber.
St. Ephraim of Syria
The Lord loves abstinence practiced for the sake of subjugating carnal thoughts; by wearing out the flesh, abstinence hallows it.
St. Basil the Great
Lack of abstinence clouds the soul and disfigures the soul, making the living dead, arousing us to commit transgressions, arousing an inclination to [seek after] pleasures; it multiplies enmity, and awakens desires.
St. John Chrysostom