The Perfection of Life

Since the goal of the virtuous way of life is the very thing we have been seeking,...it is time for you, noble friend,...to be known by God and to become His friend. This is true perfection: not to avoid a wicked life because like slaves we servilely fear punishment, not to do good because we hope for rewards, as if cashing in on the virtuous life by some business-like arrangement. On the contrary, disregarding all those things for which we hope and which have been reserved by promise, we regard falling from God's friendship as the only thing dreadful and we consider becoming God's friend the only thing worthy of honor and desire. This, as I have said, is the perfection of life.

—St. Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses, 390.