We must make good people wish that the Christian faith were true, and then show that it is.

We are only falsehood, duplicity, contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves.

Without the knowledge of our wretchedness, the knowledge of God creates pride. With it, the knowledge of God creates despair. The knowledge of Christ offers a third way, because in him we find both God and our wretchedness.

The imagination enlarges little objects so as to fill our souls with a fantastic estimate; and, with rash insolence, it belittles the great to its own measure, as when talking of God.

When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is good that there should exist a common error which determines the mind of man, as, for example, the moon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, the progress of diseases, etc. For the chief malady of man is a restless curiosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so bad for him to be in error as to be curious to no purpose.

Justice and truth are two such subtle points, that our tools are too blunt to touch them accurately.

Silence is the greatest persecution; never do the saints keep themselves silent.