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There are other ways of life than our own and we ought to be large enough in mind and heart to allow for them. There is, for instance, the monastic way. It is more charitable to accept it for others as a vocation if they want it. But the monks and nuns should practise an equal tolerance and not seek to impose theirs on ours. They have good reasons for not being willing to get embroiled in the family life but we laymen have equally valid reasons for remaining what we are. But these statements are true only on the philosophic level. For those who cannot rise to it, then withdrawal--whether into the religious community or the hermit's solitude--is still the superior way.

-- Notebooks Category 3: Relax and Retreat > Chapter 4 : Retreat Centres > # 97