“Jewish thought pays little attention to inner tranquility and peace of mind.
The feeling of ‘behold, I’ve arrived’ could well undermine the capacity to continue, suggesting as it does that the Infinite can be reached in a finite number of steps.
In fact, the very concept of the Divine as infinite implies an activity that is endless, of which one must never grow weary.
At every rung of his ascent, the penitent, like any person who follows the way of God, perceives mainly the remoteness.
Only in looking back can one obtain some idea of the distance already covered, of the degree of progress.
The Jewish approach to life considers the man who has stopped going–he who has a feeling of completion, of peace, of a great light from above that has brought him to rest–to be someone who has lost his way.”
Rabi Adin Steinsaltz