Letter 3 of Saint-Cyran

We can leave the path we take to follow God by a single word, by a momentary silence, by a desire of the soul or by a step taken by our body. Christian virtue is made up of  exact understanding. If we begin to walk just a little unsteadily on our path, we run the risk of soon abandoning it. Try to keep yourself separated from the world and say to yourself often: listen, look, be silent. If you can maintain a continual separation from the world, you will grow in the grace of the son of God day and night, without even thinking about it, even among the necessary distractions outside yourself that you cannot avoid. Be devoted to God even during your regular occupation without ever forgetting that even the best exterior work is not by any means free of sin unless it is done for God.

Translated from the French by Daniel McNeill
The United States of the World, The End of All Beginnings, The Theater of the Impossible, books by Daniel McNeill, are for sale at:
amazon.com/author/graceisall