Markings

The author left behind the manuscript of this book to be published after his death. It is a remarkable record of the spiritual life of a man whose public image was universally known and admired--a record that reveals the extent of his commitment to the Way of the Cross. He felt he gave the only true profile of himself. Lacking as it does any reference to the external world, the book constitutes only half a portrait. But as we read it, the outer image of the Secretary-General persists and heightens the sense of loneliness he conveys, the severity with which he marked his own spiritual conduct and measured the integrity of his soul, his conception of life as a summons, and his premonition of death. Many will read this book primarily as a unique historical document; many will find in its meditations an unusual devotional book. But, above all, almost every reader is bound to feel, with Auden, that he has had "the privilege of being in contact with a great, good and lovable man."