If a person believes that he is not doing anything good, if — in the good sense of the word — he despairs in himself, in his ‘self,’ if he believes that by his deeds he constantly adds zeros to zeros, but still continues his spiritual struggle with hope for God — this is a sign that he has reached spiritual maturity. In this case, Good God, seeing the zeros of his good will, feels sorry for him and puts a 1 at the beginning of these zeros. Thus, his zeros rise in price, and he becomes spiritually rich. A good spiritual state lies in a meek state of disappointment in yourself.

— St. Paisios the Athonite