“The things of the soul must always be considered as plentiful, spacious and large…it is very important for any soul that practices prayer, whether little or much, not to hold itself back and stay in one corner…Oh, but if it is in the room of self-knowledge! How necessary this room is – see that you understand me-- even for those whom the Lord has brought into the very dwelling place where He abides. For humility, like the bee making honey in the beehive is always at work. Without it everything goes wrong. But let’s remember the bee doesn’t fail to leave the beehive and fly about gathering nectar from the flowers. So it is with the soul in the room of self-knowledge; let it believe me and fly sometimes to ponder the grandeur and majesty of its God…”(from paragraph 8, chap. 2)
" …I don’t know if this has been explained well. Knowing ourselves is something so important that I wouldn’t want any relaxation ever in this regard, however high you may have climbed into the heavens. While we are on this earth, nothing is more important to us than humility. So I repeat that it is good, indeed very good to try to enter first into the room where self- knowledge is dealt with rather than to fly off to other rooms…In my opinion we shall never know ourselves, if we do not strive to know God. By gazing at His grandeur, we get in touch with our lowliness…by pondering His humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble. " (from paragraph 9, chap. 2)
