All the consolations which God ever gave should be gladly given up [if it comes to it], if it be to His glory. This is the harvest of the corn… on which we shall live eternally, and which make us rich in God. Thus the virtues are made perfect, and sorrow is turned to eternal wine. By such men, and by their lives and their patience, all those who know them and all their neighbours are taught and changed for the better. And so the corn of their virtues is sown and multiplied for the benefit of all good men.
Blessed Jan van Ruusbroec (1293–1381)