Contemplation

"Adoro te devote, latens deitas,"

"“The kingdom of heaven is within you.” And concerning the inner man, it consists of nothing but contemplation. Therefore the kingdom of heaven must be contemplation."

"One can not justify all that is by asserting that everything may equally be the object of contemplation, since man never contemplates: he does."

"About the twelfth century the possibility of sharing contemplation by means of preaching and other forms of apostolic activity began to be considered. This point of view was exemplified in the mixed life (contemplative and active) of the mendicant orders and was expressed in the formula: contemplata aliis tradere ("to transmit to others the fruits of contemplation")."

"The act of contemplation then creates the thing contemplated."

"But first and chiefest, with thee bring Him that yon soars on golden wing, Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne, The Cherub Contemplation."

"In discourse more sweet, (For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the sense,) Others apart sat on a hill retir'd, In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate, Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute; And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost."

"When holy and devout religious men Are at their beads, 'tis hard to draw them thence; So sweet is zealous contemplation."

"Contemplation makes a rare turkey-cock of him: how he jets under his advanced plumes."