You may think you are working in a detached spirit, but attachment creeps into the mind from nobody knows where. You may worship in the temple or arrange a grand religious festival or feed many poor and starving people. You may think you have done all this without hankering after the results. But unknown to yourself the desire for name and fame has somehow crept into your mind. Complete detachment from the results of action is possible only for one who has seen God.
—The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Detachment and Realization Inter-Are
A little spiritual experience of your own is of more value to you than all the recorded experienced of the greatest saints. And, indeed, without that minimum of personal experience, you cannot possibly begin to guess at the magnitude of theirs.
–Christopher Isherwood, Ramakrishna and His Disciples