The outward work will never be puny if the inward work is great.

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–c. 1328), a Dominican theologian and preacher, repeatedly stressed that authentic Christian life begins in the “inner” ground of the soul—detachment, humility, and union with God—rather than in conspicuous external performances. In his German sermons and treatises, he often contrasts outward religious “works” with the inward transformation that makes any action fruitful. The sentiment of this quotation fits that recurring pastoral aim: to redirect hearers from anxious self-justification through deeds toward the primacy of interior spiritual formation, from which right action naturally follows.

The saying asserts a causal relationship between inner life and outer action: when the interior work—purifying intention, cultivating detachment, and aligning the will with the divine—is “great,” outward deeds will not be trivial or spiritually empty. Eckhart is not dismissing action; he is arguing that action derives its true weight from what animates it. Without inward depth, outward works can become performative, self-serving, or scattered. With inward depth, even ordinary tasks become significant because they express a transformed center. The quote thus encapsulates Eckhart’s emphasis on interiority as the source of genuine ethical and spiritual efficacy.