"Almost all those who have written concerning the devout life have had chiefly in view persons who have altogether quitted the world; or at any rate they have taught a manner of devotion which would lead to such total retirement. But my object is to teach those who are living in their own households, and whose calling obliges them to a social life, so far as externals are concerned. And so I have shown them that a true stedfast soul may live in the world untainted by worldly breath, finding a well-spring of holy piety amid the bitter waves of society, and hovering amid the flames of earthly lusts without singeing the wings of its devout life." Featuring over 200 linked footnotes, this is the definitive edition of this great work.