I dress well or badly, and am vainglorious in either case. I talk or I hold my peace, and each time I am defeated. No matter how I shed this prickly thing, a spike remains to stand up against me. If pride turned some of the angels into demons, then humility can doubtless make angels out of demons. So take heart, all you sinners.
Nothing can ever so humble the soul as destitution and the subsistence of a beggar.
Choosing exile There is such a thing as exile, an irrevocable renunciation of everything in one's familiar surroundings that hinders one from attaining the ideal of holiness. Exile is a disciplined heart, unheralded wisdom, an unpublicized understanding, a hidden life, masked ideals. It is an outpouring of love, a denial of vainglory, a depth of silence. I once asked a very experienced father how humility is achieved through obedience . The Lord often humbles the vainglorious by causing some dishonor to befall them.