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The journey of the ascent to God must be a perpetual struggle to make our desires cease, and the more earnest we are in this the sooner we shall reach the summit.

Full of love you sink your gaze into mine,

And bend your ear to my quiet words,

And deeply fill my heart with peace.

Courage then, O soul most beautiful!  You now know that your Beloved dwells hidden within your own breast. Endeavor therefore to be truly hidden with Him.

For often it is God's will that His elect should be conscious of their misery and so He withdraws His help from them a little -- and no more than that is needed to make us recognize our limitations very quickly. They then realize that this is a way of testing them, for they gain a clear perception of their shortcomings, and sometimes they derive more pain from finding that, in spite of themselves, they are still grieving about earthly things, and not very important things either, than from the matter which is troubling them.

If we are determined to submit ourselves and to carry the cross, we shall find in it great refreshment.

I realize that we aren't all made alike. For me, God's infinite mercy is the quality that stands out in my life, and when I contemplate and adore God's other perfections, it's against this background of mercy all the time.

He wants to be my peace...He will keep me as still and as peaceful in His presence as if my soul were already in eternity.

All the being of creation, then, compared with the infinite Being of God, is nothing. And therefore the soul that sets its affection upon the being of creation is likewise nothing in the eyes of God, and less than nothing; for, as we have said, love makes equality and similitude, and even sets the lover below the object of his love.

You ask me for a method of attaining perfection. I know of Love and Love only! Our hearts are made for it alone. Sometimes I endeavor to find some other word for love; but in a land of exile words which have a beginning and an end are quite unable to render adequately the emotions of the soul, and so we must keep to the one simple word-Love.

Not observing the imperfections of others, preserving silence and a continual communion with God will eradicate great imperfections from the soul and make it the possessor of great virtues.

My spirit has become dry because it forgets to feed on you.

...God has an immense desire to enrich us with His graces, but it is we who determine the amount to the extent that we know how to let ourselves be immolated by Him...