John-Baptist Massillon, Bishop of Clermont, Sermons, from the last London edition, with an introduction by Rev. William M. Willett (Boston: Waite, Peirce & Company, 1845), Sermon I, "On Salvation," p. 23

What is there upon the earth, then, more glorious or more worthy of man than the cares of eternity? Prosperities are honorable anxieties; splendid enjoyments an illustrious servitude; reputation is frequently a public er…