From Saint Augustine and Rabi'a to T. S. Eliot and Kathleen Norris, each of these autobiographers tells the story of the inner life as a spiritual quest. Although separated culturally, historically, and linguistically, they are united by their efforts to respond to Socrates' challenge to "know thyself." In four parts this insightful collection includes works by:

* Wanderers and seekers, like Leo Tolstoy and Thomas Merton, who feverishly explore many experiences and world views

* Pilgrims and missionaries, like Anne Bradstreet and David Livingstone, who unwaveringly pursue God and holiness in lives of self-sacrifice

* Mystics and visionaries, like Julian of Norwich and Annie Dillard, who discover the ecstasy of epiphany in a life of contemplation and seclusion

* Scholars and philosophers, like Simone Weil and Blaise Pascal, who seek to ground spiritual conviction in a rational certitude.

Strong, deep, and enduring, the selections in this illuminating anthology remind us that "the unexamined life is not worth living" and speak to us with an immediacy that transcends time and space.

INTRODUCTION BY MADELEINE L'ENGLE

EDITORS' PREFACE

Fashioning the Soul: The Shape of Spiritual Autobiography

PART ONE: WANDERERSandSEEKERS

KING DAVID, THE PSALMIST

From the Psalms

SAINT AUGUSTINE

From The Confessions

LEO TOLSTOY

From A Confession

EMILY DICKINSON

Selected Poems

JORIS-KARL HUYSMANS

From En Route

JOHANNES JØRGENSEN

From His Autobiography

SERGEI BULGAKOV

From His Autobiography

THOMAS MERTON

From The Seven Storey Mountain

MADELEINE L'ENGLE

From A Circle of Quiet

CHARLES W. COLSON

From Born Again

ELDRIDGE CLEAVER

From Soul on Fire

KATHLEEN NORRIS

From Dakota: A Spiritual Geography

PART TWO: PILGRIMSandMISSIONARIES

MOSES

From Exodus and Deuteronomy

SAINT PAUL

From His Letters

MARTIN LUTHER

From His Writings

SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

From Saint Ignatius's Own Story

RABBI LEON MODENA

From The Life of Judah

ANNE BRADSTREET

A Letter to My Children

ARCHPRIEST AVVAKUM

From The Life of Archpriest Avvakum by Himself

JOHN BUNYAN

From Grace Abounding

JONATHAN EDWARDS

Personal Narrative

JOHN WESLEY

From The Journal of John Wesley

DAVID LIVINGSTONE

From Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa

ANONYMOUS RUSSIAN PILGRIM

From The Way of a Pilgrim

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

From Maude

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

From Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography

DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD

From Markings

PART THREE: MYSTICSandVISIONARIES

RABI'A AL-'ADAWIYA

From Her Prayers

DANTE ALIGHIERI

From La vita nuova

JULIAN OF NORWICH

From Showings

SAINT TERESA OF AVILA

From The Book of Her Life

SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS

From On a Dark Night

JOHN DONNE

From Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Dedication, First Meditation and Prayer, Number One

BROTHER LAWRENCE

From The Practice of the Presence of God

SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE

From Her Letters

JEANE MARIE DE LA MOTTE-GUYON

From Her Autobiography

FRANCIS THOMPSON

The Hound of Heaven

HENRIETTA GANT

Narrative of Her Baptism

SAINT THÉRÈSE DE LISIEUX

From The Story of a Soul

ANNIE DILLARD

From Holy the Firm

PART FOUR: PHILOSOPHERSandSCHOLARS

SOCRATES

From The Apology

MARCUS AURELIUS

From Meditations

ABÜ HAMID MUHAMMAD GHAZALI (ALGAZALI)

From Deliverance from Error

PETRARCH

The Ascent of Mount Ventoux

SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ

First Dream

BLAISE PASCAL

The Memorial

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

From The Autobiography

SAMUEL JOHNSON

Prayers and Meditations

JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN

From Apologia pro vita sua

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

Selected Poems

PAUL CLAUDEL

My Conversion

T. S. ELIOT

Ash-Wednesday

C. S. LEWIS

From Surprised by Joy

VIKTOR E. FRANKL

From Experiences in a Concentration Camp

SIMONE WEIL

A Spiritual Autobiography

SHELDON VANAUKEN

From A Severe Mercy

DENISE LEVERTOV

Selected Poems

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

From Her Letters