Contemplation

...lovers of sobreity and obscurity. They prefer all that is quiet and humble and unassuming. They have no taste for excitements. Their inclination is to those things which seem to be nothing, which tell them little or nothing, which promises them nothing. Only those who can remain at peace in emptiness, without projects or vanities, without speeches to justify their own apparent uselessness, can be safe from the fatal appeal of those impulses that move people to assert themselves and to be something in the eyes of other people. These are, of all people, ones most likely to realize that they are not saints and are least anxious to appear as one in the eyes of others. They are, in fact, delivered from subjection to appearances and care little about them. At the same time, they have neither the inclination nor the need to be rebellious; they have no need to advertise their lack of interest in appearances. They simply pay no attention to them. These no longer interest them. They are quite content to be considered an idiot, if necessary, and in this they have a long tradition behind them. They do not need to be systematic about anything. They are content with the wisdom of God, which is folly to people, not because it is contrary to human wisdom, but because it is entirely something other.

- Thomas Merton (alt.)