cling only to the imperishable

Yes, be man ; that is to
say, be nature, be spirit, be the image of
God, be what is greatest, most beautiful,
most lofty in all the spheres of being, be
infinite will and idea, a reproduction of the
great whole. And be everything while
being nothing, effacing thyself, letting God
enter into thee as the air enters an empty
space, reducing the ego to the mere vessel
which contains the divine essence.
Be humble, devout, silent, that so thou mayest
hear in the depths of thyself the subtle and
profound voice ; be spiritual and pure, that
so thou mayest have communion with the
pure spirit. Withdraw thyself often into
the sanctuary of thy inmost consciousness ;
become once more point and atom, that so
thou mayest free thyself from space, time,
matter, temptation, dispersion, — that thou
mayest escape thy very organs themselves
and thine own life. That is to say, die
often, and examine thyself in the presence
of this death, as a preparation for the last
death. He who can without shuddering
confront blindness, deafness, paralysis,
disease, betrayal, poverty ; he who can
without terror appear before the sovereign
justice, he alone can call himself prepared
for partial or total death. How far am I
from anything of the sort, how far is my
heart from any such stoicism ! But at
least we can try to detach ourselves from
all that can be taken away from us, to accept
everything as a loan and a gift, and to
cling only to the imperishable, — this at any
rate we can attempt.

Henri Amiel