self and confidence in God, to be, as it were, the introduction to true
wisdom: they are, the author tells us, the two feet on which we walk
towards it, the two arms with which we embrace it, and the two eyes with
which we perceive it.

In proportion to the growth of one of these two in us is the increase of
the other; the greater or the less the degree of our self-distrust, the
greater or the less the degree of our confidence in God. But whence springs
this salutary distrust of self? From the knowledge of our own misery and
vileness, of our weakness and impotence, of our malice and levity. And
whence proceeds confidence In God? From the knowledge which faith gives us
of His infinite goodness, and from our assurance that He is rich in mercy
to all those who call upon Him.

If distrust and confidence seem incompatible with one another, listen to
what our Blessed Father says on the subject: "Not only can the soul which
knows her misery have great confidence in God, but unless she has such
knowledge, it is impossible for her to have true confidence in Him; for it
is this very knowledge and confession of our misery which brings us to God.
Thus, all the great Saints, Job, David, and the rest, began every prayer
with the confession of their own misery, and unworthiness. It is a very
good thing to acknowledge ourselves to be poor, vile, abject, and unworthy
to appear in the presence of God. That saying so celebrated among the
ancients: _Know thyself_, even though it may be understood as referring
to the knowledge of the greatness and excellence of the soul, which ought
not to be debased or profaned by things unworthy of its nobility, may
also be taken as referring to the knowledge of our personal unworthiness,
imperfection, and misery. Now the greater our knowledge of our own misery
the more profound will be our confidence in the goodness and mercy of God;
for between mercy and misery there is so close a connection that the one