John of the Cross: The way to begin the inward journey of simplicity and generosity

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“To come to the pleasure you have not
you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not
you must go by a way which you are not.”

John of the Cross in The Ascent of Mount Carmel I, 13, #10 as quoted by Richard Rohr in Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go (Crossroad, 1991) 16.