You know it well, O Lord; if I love you, I do not love you for the Sky you promised me; if I fear to offend you, it is not for the hell that threatens me: that which attracts me to you, O Lord, is yourself, you alone: it is to see you, O my Lord Jesus, nailed to the cross, with the body covered with sores , prey to the anguishes of death.
And your love has so seized my heart that even if heaven did not exist I would love you anyway; if hell did not exist, I would fear you anyway.
You have nothing to promise me, nothing to give me to cause my love, because even not hoping for what I hope, I would love you as I love you.
(S. Teresa d’Avila)