Quote collection
335 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"If... the motion of the earth were circular, it would be violent and contrary to nature, and could not be eternal, since ... nothing violent is eternal .... It follows, therefore, that the earth is not moved with a circular motion."
"Love takes up where knowledge leaves off."
"The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays His head against us."
"The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life."
"Bestow upon me, O Lord my God, understanding to know thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to find thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace thee."
"If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth."
"One faith, St. Paul writes (Eph. 4:5). Hold most firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church ... We must hold this for certain, namely: that the faith of the people at the present day is one with the faith of the people in past centuries. Were this not true, then we would be in a different church than they were in and, literally, the Church would not be One."
"How is it they live in such harmony the billions of stars - when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their minds about someone they know."
"God is never angry for His sake, only for ours."
"Because we cannot know what God is, but only what He is not, we cannot consider how He is but only how He is not."
"The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them."
"The Church has ever proved indestructible. Her persecutors have failed to destroy her; in fact, it was during times of persecution that the Church grew more and more; while the persecutors themselves, and those whom the Church would destroy, are the very ones who came to nothing. . . .Again, errors have assailed her; but in fact, the greater the number of errors that have arisen, the more has the truth been made manifest. . . . Nor has the Church failed before the assaults of demons: for she is like a tower of refuge to all who fight against the Devil."
"It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills."
"Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity (love) directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace."
"Wonder is the desire of knowledge."
"The truth of the Christian faith surpasses the capacity of reason."
"A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational."
"Well-ordered self-love is right and natural."
"Law; an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community."
"Humility is the mark of a genuine disciple."