[Philip II of Macedon to Sparta]: “If I invade Laconia you will be destroyed, never to rise again.”
[Sparta]: “If.”

“Some old men came to see Abba Poemen, and said to him, Tell us, when we see brothers dozing during the sacred office, should we pinch them so they will stay awake? The old man said to them: Actually, if I saw a brother sleeping, I would put his head on my knees and let him rest.”

[from Desert Wisdom, translated by Yushi Nomura.]