Graces – Thomas Merton

God does not give us graces or talents or virtues for ourselves alone. We are members one of another and everything that is given to one member is given for the whole body… In humility is the greatest freedom. As long as you have to defend the imaginary self that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart. As soon as you take yourself seriously and imagine that your virtues are important because they are yours, you become the prisoner of your own vanity…. (New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 42, 43)