How charming is divine philosophy!
  Not harsh, and crabbed, as full fools suppose,
    But musical as is Apollo's lute...

                Milton, Mask of Comus (l. 476)

Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite St John of the Cross Walter Hilton Richard Rolle Thomas a Kempis Jacob Boehme Nicholas of Cusa

Paul Tillich Soren Kierkegaard Thomas Merton Henri Nouwen

ST JOHN OF THE CROSS

What , more do you want, 0 soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness, and kingdom -your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with Him, for you have Him so close to you. Desire Him there, adore Him there. Do not go in pursuit of Him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find Him, nor enjoy Him more securely, nor sooner, nor more intimately than by seeking Him within you.

Spiritual Canticle, I.8

The road and ascent to God, then, necessarily demands a habitual effort to renounce and mortify the appetites; the sooner this mortification is achieved, the sooner the soul reaches the top. But until the appetites are eliminated, a person will not arrive, no matter how much virtue he practices. For he will fail to acquire perfect virtue, which lies in keeping the soul empty, naked, and purified of every appetite.

... Until slumber comes to the appetites through the mortification of sensuality, and until this very sensuality is stilled in such a way that the appetites do not war against the spirit, the soul will not walk out to genuine freedom, to the enjoyment of union with its Beloved.

The Ascent Of Mount Carmel, I.5.6

Now a man may be striving for a perfect union in this life through grace ….. But, manifestly, the perfect union in this life through grace and love demands that he live in darkness to all the objects of sight, hearing, imagination, and everything comprehensible to the heart, that is, to the soul.

The Ascent Of Mount Carmel, II.4.4