The man who is satisfied with himself and seeks no Divine help is perhaps more comfortable, but he will, in all likelihood, be unable to comprehend the contradictory synthesis of love and fear of God.
It is this knowledge of love and fear that humbles the heart and makes the soul a vessel for the holy oil that lights the lamp.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From "Implications of the Menorah," in The Candle of God by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz