One must not always think so much about what one should do, but rather what one should be. Our works do not ennoble us; but we must ennoble our works.

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–c. 1328), a Dominican theologian and preacher, is known for sermons that stress inner transformation over external religiosity. In the late medieval context of penitential practices, merit, and visible “good works,” Eckhart repeatedly redirected attention to the state of the soul—detachment (Gelassenheit), purity of intention, and the birth of the divine Word within. The sentiment in this quotation aligns with his pastoral aim: to show that actions take their spiritual value from what a person is inwardly (their orientation toward God), not from the mere fact of doing. It reflects a broader mystical critique of performative piety and a call to cultivate being before doing.

The quotation contrasts ethical or religious “doing” with the deeper question of “being.” Eckhart suggests that actions are not inherently ennobling; they become noble only when they flow from a transformed inner life. In other words, virtue is not produced by piling up deeds, but by forming a self capable of acting rightly—through humility, detachment from ego, and alignment with the divine. The second sentence reverses a common moral calculus: works do not make the person great; rather, the person’s spiritual quality confers worth on the work. The line thus emphasizes intention, interior freedom, and character as the source of authentic moral and spiritual action.