Be as a tower, that, firmly set, Shakes not its top for any blast that blows! - Dante Alighieri

There are no short cuts to that totally encompassing experience. Salvation must grow out of understanding, total understanding can follow only from total experience, and experience must be won by the laborious discipline of shaping one's absolute attention.

Ne li occhi porta la mia donna Amore, per che si fa gentil ciò ch’ella mira; ov’ella passa, ogn’om ver lei si gira, e cui saluta fa tremar lo core, sì che, bassando il viso, tutto smore, e d’ogni suo difetto allor sospira: fugge dinanzi a lei superbia ed ira. Aiutatemi, donne, farle onore. Ogne dolcezza, ogne pensero umile nasce nel core a chi parlar la sente, ond’è laudato chi prima la vide. Quel ch’ella par quando un poco sorride, non si pò dicer né tenere a mente, sì è novo miracolo e gentile.

Those things that have the power to hurt are to be feared: not those other things that are not fearful. I am made such, by God’s grace, that your suffering does not touch me, nor does the fire of this burning scorch me.