Bede

And he that wins souls is wise. He who undertakes the care of souls for the Lord, such as to teach the erring, to comfort the mournful, to sustain the needy with temporal goods, to lead the resistant to the remedies of salvation, or to govern those destitute of a shepherd, so that he may bring many to the Lord with himself; he, I say, who undertakes souls in this way, is wise, because he greatly procures for his own soul by these means, whereby he may reign more gloriously with the Lord.

Commentary on Proverbs ↗

Hippolytus of Rome

The fruit of righteousness and the tree of life is Christ. He alone, as man, fulfilled all righteousness. And with His own underived life He has brought forth the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree, whereof they that eat shall receive eternal life, and shall enjoy the tree of life in paradise, with Adam and all the righteous. But the souls of the unrighteous meet an untimely expulsion from the presence of God, by whom they shall be left to remain in the flame of torment.

Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments ↗