“Abba Theodore of Pherme had acquired three good books. He came to Abba Macarius and said to him, “I have three excellent books from which I derive profit; the brethren also make use of them and derive profit from them. Tell me what I ought to do; keep them for my use and that of the brethren, or sell them and give the money to the poor?” The old man answered him in this way, “Your actions are good; but it is best of all to possess nothing.” Hearing that, he went and sold his books and gave the money for them to the poor.”
Abba Theodore and Abba Macarius (4th century) as cited by Benedicta Ward in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1975) 73.