“Let this observation be a safeguard against sinning: let us each note and write down our actions and impulses of the soul as though we were to report them to each other” Athanasius
Foucault's article Self Writing critiques the Vita Antoni of Athanasius, written in the 4th Century as a guide for monks who were keeping themselves pure through writing. “Hence, a first analogy can be put forward: what others are to the ascetic in a community, the notebook is to the recluse.”
HT: Antipopper