"The Sage sees things very differently from the average man; neither ordinary experiences nor pains and sorrows, whether touching himself or others, pierce to the inner hold. To allow them any such passage would be a weakness in our soul." - 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐬, "𝐄𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬"

The time may come soon when aristocrats of the soul have no choice but to retire to their country villas. The villa is the fertile hearth of the family, the virile seat of the patriarch, an altar plowed and cut and worked out of Earth to reflect the beauty and order of Heaven. The humble cabin in the woods is plenty enough for the true aristocrat to live well and prosper. All the treasures of the mansions of the city cannot match the wealth of the well-intentioned homestead.

There is a vale which none hath seen,
Where foot of man has never been,
Such as here lives with toil and strife,
An anxious and a sinful life.

There every virtue has its birth,
Ere it descends upon the earth,
And thither every deed returns,
Which in the generous bosom burns.
There love is warm, and youth is young,
And poetry is yet unsung.
For Virtue still adventures there,
And freely breathes her native air.

And ever, if you hearken well,
You still may hear its vesper bell,
And tread of high-souled men go by,
Their thoughts conversing with the sky.

[Rumors from an Aeolian Harp - Henry David Thoreau]

"The most powerful prayer, one well-nigh omnipotent to gain all things, and the noblest work of all is that which proceeds from a bare mind. The more bare it is, the more powerful, worthy, useful, praiseworthy and perfect the prayer and the work. A bare mind can do all things. What is a bare mind?
A bare mind is one which is worried by nothing and is tied to nothing, which has not bound its best part to any mode, does not seek its own in anything, that is fully immersed in God's dearest will and gone out of its own. A man can do no work however paltry that does not derive power and strength from this source. We should pray so intently, as if we would have all members and all powers turned to it - eyes, ears, mouth, heart, and all the senses; and we should never stop until we find ourselves about to be united with Him whom we have in mind and are praying to: that is - God."

- Meister Eckhart, The Talks of Instruction

"People say, 'Alas, sir, I wish I stood as well with God or had as much devotion and were as much at peace with God as others are, I wish I were like them, or that I were so poor,' or, 'I can never manage it unless I am there or there, or do this or that; I must get away from it all, or go and live in a cell or a cloister.' In fact, the reason lies entirely with yourself and with nothing else.
It is self-will, though you may not know it or believe it: restlessness never arises in you except from self-will, whether you realize it or not. Though we may think a man should flee these things or seek those things - places or people or methods, or company, or deeds this is not the reason why methods or things hold you back: it is you yourself in the things that prevents you, for you have a wrong attitude to things.
Therefore start first with yourself, and resign yourself. In truth, unless you flee first from yourself, then wherever you flee to, you will find obstacles and restlessness no matter where it is. If people seek peace in outward things, whether in places or in methods or in people or in deeds or in banishment or in poverty or in humiliation, however great or of whatever kind all this may be, this is all in vain and brings them no peace. Those who seek thus seek wrongly; the further they go the less they find what they are seeking. They are like a man who has taken a wrong turning: the further he goes, the more he goes astray. But what should he do? He should resign himself to begin with, and then he has abandoned all things. In truth, if a man gave up a kingdom or the whole world and did not give up self, he would have given up nothing. But if a man gives up himself, then whatever he keeps, wealth, honor, or whatever it may be, still he has given up everything.
One saint comments on St. Peter's words, 'See, Lord, we have left everything' (Matt. 19:27) - and all that he had left was just a net and his boat. This saint says whoever leaves a little of his own free will, he leaves not that alone, but he leaves all that worldly people can get hold of, in fact all that they are able to desire. For he who resigns himself and his own will has left all things as truly as if they were his free possession and at his absolute disposal. For that which you don't want to desire, you have handed over and resigned for God's sake. That is why our Lord said, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' (Matt. 5:3), that is, in will. And none should doubt this, for if there were any better way our Lord would have declared it, just as he said, 'If any one would follow me, he must first deny himself' (Matt. 16:24). It all depends on that. Observe yourself, and wherever you find yourself, leave yourself: that is the very best way."

- Meister Eckhart, The Talks of Instruction