If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one...

I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so

It seems to me that an unjust law is no law at all.

God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand you have failed.

O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet.

A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.

We make a ladder of our vices, if we trample those same vices underfoot.

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.

Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.

Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.

And behold you were within me,and I out of myself, and there I searched for you.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

We are certainly in a common class with the beasts; every action of animal life is concerned with seeking bodily pleasure and avoiding pain.

Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?

To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

Lord, Make me chaste, but not yet

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.

Love, and do what you like

Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider.

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.

Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with another man’s wife, but if it is obvious for some reason that he would like to do so, and would...

Better to have fewer wants than greater riches to supply increasing wants.

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears...

He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.

For, were it not good that evil things should also exist, the omnipotent God would almost certainly not allow evil to be, since beyond doubt it is just as easy for Him not to allow...

Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.

I found thee not, O Lord, without, because I erred in seeking thee without that wert within.

Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.

Understanding is the reward of faith.

Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions...

Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt.

Punishment is justice for the unjust.

Our bodies are shaped to bear children, and our lives are a working out of the processes of creation. All our ambitions and intelligence are beside that great elemental point.

The same thing which is now called Christian religion existed among the ancients. They have begun to call ‘Christian’ the true religion which existed before.

Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

Hear the other side.

I want my friend to miss me as long as I miss him.

Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.

The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.

The world’s verdict is conclusive.

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

We make ourselves a ladder out of our vices if we trample the vices themselves underfoot.