He who truly wishes to believe in God must be lifted above himself, his mind, and even the whole world. For this reason, the value of faith is considered higher than the value of man. It is even higher than the value of the whole world. Therefore, the reward of faith should be higher than all of man's possessions along with the glories of this world. The reward of faith is God.
Fr. Matthew the Poor
Orthodox Prayer Life: The Interior Way, p. 74, 20th century
Because such is the obedience which Christ seeks of us, as that we delay not even a moment of time, though something absolutely most needful should vehemently press on us.
St. John Chrysostom
Homily 14 on Matthew 4, 4th Century
What is it that I love when I love you? Not the beauty of a body or the comeliness of time. Nor the luster of the light pleasing to the eyes, nor the sweet melodies of all manner of songs, nor the fragrance of flowers, ointments and spices, not manna and honey, nor limbs welcome to the embrace of the flesh - I do not love these when I love my God. And yet there is a kind of light, a kind of voice, a kind of fragrance, a kind of foods, a kind of embrace, when I love my God, who is the light, voice, fragrance, food, embrace of the inner man, where there shines into the soul that which no place can contain, and there sounds forth that which time cannot end, where there is fragrance which no breeze disperses, taste which eating does not make less, and a clinging together which fulfillment does not terminate. It is this that I love when I love my God.
St. Augustine
Confessions 10.6 in The Confessions of St. Augustine, p. 244, 5th century
For many have taken part with the holy apostles in their labors, and still do so, especially those who inquire into the meaning of what is written in the holy Gospels ... For the net is still being drawn, while Christ fills it, and calls to conversion those who, according to the Scripture phrase, are in the depths of the sea, that is to say, those who live in the surge and waves of worldly things.
St. Cyril of Alexandria
Homily XII, Taken from: Cyril of Alexandria. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke. Trans. R. Payne Smith. Long Island, N.Y.: Studion Publishers, Inc., 1983, 105., 5th Century