For it is not what you are nor what you have been that God regards with his most merciful eyes, but what you would like to be.
The Cloud of Unknowing is one of the classic medieval texts on contemplative prayer. Written anonymously towards the end of the fourteenth century for someone just starting out in the journey of faith, it dwells on the essentially unknowability of God. Since God cannot be grasped by the intellect, he must be approached with an attitude of humility and love, in listening prayer.