The most precious goods must not be sought, but awaited

     "We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search of them but by waiting for them.  Man cannot discover them by his own powers and if he sets out to seek for them he will find in their place counterfeits of which he will be unable to discern the falsity."

     Simone Weil, "Reflections on the right use of school studies with a view to the love of God," in Waiting on God, trans. Emma Craufurd (London:  Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, 1951), 56-57.

     "Les biens les plus précieux ne doivent pas être cherchés, mais attendus.  Car l'homme ne peut pas les trouver par ses propres forces, et s'il se met à leur recherche, il trouvera à la place des faux biens dont il ne saura pas discerner la fausseté."

     The most precious goods must not be sought, but awaited.  For man cannot find them by his own powers, and if he puts himself onto the search for them, he will find instead only false goods, the falsity of which he will be unable to discern.

"And Thou hast freely given | what earth could never buy, | The bread of life from heaven, | That now I shall not die"

     Johann Rist, "Wie wohl hast du gelabet," stanza 2, as trans. Catherine Winkworth, in "O Living Bread from Heaven, in Lyra Germanica (London:  George Newnes Limited; New York:  Charles Scribener's Sons, 1855), 283-286.  The original:  Neuer himmlischer Lieder (1651), 76-81.  See also Hymnary.org.