Fenelon on Coveting the Gifts

Nothing is so flattering to self-love (as the desire to have extraordinary revelations, which may be regarded as supernatural gifts, and a mark of the special favor of God); all the greatness of the world at once could not so inflate the heart; these supernatural gifts nourish in secret the life of nature. It is an ambition of the most refined character, as it is wholly spiritual; but it is merely ambition; a desire to feel, to enjoy, to posses God and his gifts, to behold his light, to discern spirits, to prophesy, in short, to be an extraordinarily gifted person; for the enjoyment of illuminations and delights, leads the soul little by little towards a secret coveting of all these things.

Francois de Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon - "Spiritual Progress" - Chapter XXIV