"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates

 "We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the bad in every place. Let us firmly believe this, especially when we take part in the Work of God. Let us, therefore, always be mindful of what the Prophet saith, 'Serve ye the Lord with fear.' And again, 'Sing ye wisely.' And, “I will sing praise to Thee in the sight of the angels.' Therefore, let us consider how it becometh us to behave in the sight of God and His angels, and let us so stand to sing, that our mind may be in harmony with our voice."
[St. Benedict (2011-04-30). The Rule of St. Benedict (Kindle Locations 548-552). PlanetMonk Books. Kindle Edition. ]


"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.
[Thoreau, Henry David (2012-05-16). Walden (Kindle Locations 1089-1096). Kindle Edition.]