The Golden Rules of Detachment by St. John of the Cross

The soul must always be inclined to:

-  not to the easiest thing, but the hardest;

-  not to the tastiest thing, but the most insipid;

-  not to t he thing that gives the greatest pleasure, but to those that give the least;

-  not to restful things, but to the painful ones;

-  not to consolation, but desolation;

- not to more, but to less;

- not to the highest and dearest, but to the lowest and most despised;

-  not to desire for something but to have no desires.

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