Now it is quite evident that he who does not know God does not
possess this virtue; for how can a man humble himself before a being
that he ignores? At first sight it may seem that there is nothing so
easy as to know one's self,--that this knowledge may be obtained by a
close consideration of the heart's operations; but when we give the
matter sufficient thought the work does not appear to be so easy. And
the number of those who have acquired this knowledge to any noted
degree is so limited that we are forced to infer that a knowledge so
rare must offer great difficulties.
However, there is one thing certain, namely: that this knowledge is
not obtained in the midst of tumult and pleasures, from the
seductions of the world or the distractions of life. It is not by
fleeing one's-self as we would fly an enemy; by concealing with a
complaisant but perfidious veil our defects, to avoid being troubled
by their appearance--always painful to pride; it is not by living a
dreamy life of fiction to which the slaves of the world condemn
themselves with a deplorable obsequiousness; it is not by continually
trying to deceive ourselves and others that we may learn how to know
ourselves; and, just as our knowledge of material things increases by
the frequency of our relations with them--for instance we know
persons better with whom we are intimately acquainted than those with
whom we are comparatively strangers--so, likewise, in order to know
ourselves well, we must live intimately with ourselves, observe
closely and impartially all the movements of our mind and heart,
frequently descending into the depth of our soul, scrupulously
examining our thoughts, desires and actions, sparing no pains to
discern well their source and motives; this latter portion of the
work is, without doubt, the most difficult, since it is the point at
which all the passions unite to deceive us by the most subtle
illusions.
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