Page:Thoughts of the servant of God, Thérèse of the Child Jesus; the Little flower of Jesus, Carmelite of the monastery of Lisieux, 1873-1897 (IA thoughtsofservan00thrs).pdf/185

 When we are expecting only suffering the least joy surprises us: suffering itself becomes the greatest of joys when we seek it as a precious treasure.

There are people who take everything in the way that gives them the most pain; with me it is the reverse; I see always the good side of things. If I have naught but pure suffering, without any break, well! I make of it my joy.

Joy is not in the things that surround us, it resides in the interior of the soul. One may possess it in the depths of a gloomy prison as well as in a royal palace. Thus am I happier in Carmel, even in the midst of interior and exterior trials, than in the world, where nothing was wanting to me.

If now, amid trials, and in the thick of the fight, we can already find such