““It is not enough for us to perform the works of virtue, exercising obedience, excepting poverty or disgrace or practicing humility or detachment in some other way; rather we should strive ceaselessly until we attain the essence and ground of virtue. And we can tell if we have attained this or not by asking whether we find ourselves inclined to virtue above all else and perform the works of virtue without prior preparation of the will, practicing virtue without the ulterior motive even of a great and good cause, so that the virtuous act in fact happen spontaneously on account of love of virtue and without asking ‘what for?’ Then and only then do we have the perfect possession of virtue.””
![“[W]e must come into a transformed knowing, an unknowing which…” quote by Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6ee/meister-eckhart-1044_change_w-e-must-come-into-a-transformed-knowing_82425.jpg)
