Shame and suffering, as St. Bernard says, are the two ladder-uprights which are set up to heaven, and between those two uprights are the rungs of all virtues fixed, by which one climbs to the joy of heaven… In these two things, in which is all penance, rejoice and be glad, for in return for these, twofold blesses are prepared: in return for shame honor; in return for suffering, delight and rest without end.

The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien