Simplicity brings back the joys of Paradise. Not that we have pure pleasure without a moment's suffering, but when we are surrendered to God, we are not grasping for pleasure, and even our troubles are received with thanksgiving. This inner harmony, and this deliverance from fear and the tormenting desires of self, create a satisfaction in the soul which is above all the intoxicating joys of this world put together.

Violent excitement exhausts the mind and leaves it withered and sterile.

This poor world, the object of so much insane attachment, we are about to leave; it is but misery, vanity, and folly; a phantom--the very fashion of which "passeth away.

Nothing is more despicable than a professional talker who uses his words as a quack uses his remedies

Be content with doing calmly the little which depends upon yourself, and let all else be to you as if it were not.

God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from listening to him

Frequently a big advantage can be gained by knowing how to give in at the right moment.