In tribulation immediately draw near to God with confidence, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.

Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.

Strive always to confess your sins with a deep knowledge of your own wretchedness and with clarity and purity.

Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross.

Let my soul live as if separated from my body.

Though the path is plain and smooth for men of good will, he who walks it will not travel far, and will do so only with difficulty, if he does not have good feet: that is, courage and a persevering spirit.

Yearning: It needs to hurt in order to be worthy of the word. Otherwise it is just wanting.