You know me better than you think, you know, and you shall know me better yet.

No one can say 'He jests at scars who never felt a wound' for I have never for one moment been in a state of mind to which even the imagination of serious pain was less than intolerable. If any man is safe from the danger of under-estimating this adversary, I am that man.

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

The proper motto is not Be good, sweet maid, and let who can be clever, but Be good sweet maid, and don't forget that this involves being as clever as you can. God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than any other slackers.

It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion.

It is by human avarice or human stupidity, not by the churlishness of nature, that we have poverty and overwork.

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work.