“Those who sought to discourage the Israelites from going up to the Promised Land, told them that it was ‘a land which eateth up the inhabitants thereof;’ that is, that the climate was so unhealthy that the inhabitants could not live long, and that the people thereof were ‘men of a great stature,’ who looked upon the new-comers as mere locusts to be devoured.
It is just so, my child, that the world runs down true devotion, painting devout people with gloomy, melancholy aspect, and affirming that religion makes them dismal and unpleasant. But even as Joshua and Caleb protested that not only was the Promised Land a fair and pleasant country, but that the Israelites would take an easy and peaceful possession thereof, so the Holy Spirit tells us through His Saints, and our Lord has told us with His Own Lips, that a devout life is very sweet, very happy and very loveable.”—St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Pt. I, Ch. II