Introduction to Spirituality

This book is a manual, a manual for practical use. This is why
the bibliography has been limited to the mention of the great basic
texts and of works of some special interest in relation to the various
questions we are dealing with. The reader should refer to the latter
for a more complete bibliography or for discussions which are of
interest to specialists only. In the purpose of the book also is to be
found the reason why I have been quite reticent about certain factitious
problems — for example, the question of Quietism (can there be a love
of God involving no reference to self?) and detailed questions of interest
only to historians', such as the myriad subdivisions, differing from
author to author, which can be introduced into the three ways, or
three ages, of the spiritual life. And, for the same reason, I have not
gone into any of the minute classifications which frequently occupy
considerable space in works of this nature, but which do not seem
to prove very useful for practical purposes.