merton

Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to
be what I already am. That I will never fulfill my obligation to
surpass myself unless I first accept myself -- and, if I accept myself
fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself. For it
is the unaccepted self that stands in my way -- and will continue to
do so long as it is not accepted. When it has been accepted, it is my
own stepping-stone to what is above me. Because this is the way man
was made by God -- and original sin was the effort to surpass oneself
by being "like God," i.e., unlike oneself. But our Godlikeness begins
at home. We must become ourselves, and stop living "beside ourselves."


Merton