The fourth bough of pride is foolish desire, which one calls in book-learning ambition; that is, an evil desire to climb high. This sin is the devil’s pan of hell, wherein he makes his fryings. This bough spreads in many ways right and left. For he that desires to climb high, (to) some he will please, and therefrom grow many sins, as on the right hand to wit, deceit, simulation, giving foolishly, in order that one shall esteem him courteous and liberal. (To) others he will harm, and therefrom comes the sin on the left side, as to slander them whom he will harm in order to exalt himself, and raises up blame for him and desires the death of that (man), who holds what he weens to come into, and frauds, and evil counsel, conspiracies, strife, and many other sins, that grow out of this evil bough. THE FIFTH BOUGH OF PRIDE. The fifth bough of pride is idle bliss; that is, foolish liking of foolish praise, when he feels in his heart knowingly that he is, or weens to be, praised for something that he has in him, or weens to have, and will be praised therefore, for which he should praise God. And therefore idle bliss robs God, and steals what is His. For of all our goods He shall have the honour and the praise, and we the gain. Idle bliss is the great wind that throws down the great towers and the high steeples, and throws to the ground the great beeches in woods, and makes the great hills to quake, which are the high men and (those) that are most worthy. That is the devil’s penny, wherewith he buys all the fair pennyworths in the market of this world, which are the good works. And because there are three kinds of goods that man hath of God, and that the devil wall buy with his pence, therefore this bough divides into three kinds of small boughs, whereof grows every kind of sin, which no clerk can tell. The same three kinds of goods that one has of God are the gifts of nature, the gifts of hap, the gifts of grace. The natural gifts are those that one calls ‘by nature,’ either as to the body or as to the soul; as regards the body, as health, fairness, strength, prowess, nobility, good tongue, good speech; as regards the soul, as clear wit to understand well, and subtle wit to devise well, good memory to retain well, and the virtues of nature, whereby one is more natural than another, or more liberal, or meeker, or more gracious, or contented and well ordered. For all these gifts one shall thank and serve God, because they all come from Him. Nevertheless the proud sells them to the devil for the false penny of idle bliss, and often wars against God for all His gifts, for which he should thank God. And whoever takes good heed [may see that] in all these gifts of nature that I have briefly told, it is sin by idle bliss in too many ways, which each may better see in himself, if he will study well, than others can tell him.