Well now, in the case of perfect love, if a person loves there is the passion to make the other soul worthy of being loved, for, as I say, this person knows that otherwise, he will not continue to love the other.
It is a love that costs dearly.
This person does everything he can for the other’s benefit; he would lose a thousand lives [so] that a little good might come to the other soul.
O precious love that imitates the Commander-in-chief of love, Jesus, our Good!
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection, Chap. 6, no. 9 (excerpt)
Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Carmelite Quotes 
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