Francois Fenelon Quotes

All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers... Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.

The passion of acquiring riches in order to support a vain expense corrupts the purest souls.

No more restless uncertainties, no more anxious desires, no more impatience at the place we are in; for it is God who has placed us there, and who holds us in his arms. Can we be unsafe where he has placed us?

The great point is to renounce your own wisdom by simplicity of walk, and to be ready to give up the favor, esteem, and approbation of every one, whenever the path in which God leads you passes that way.

The more you say, the less people remember.

God felt, God tasted and enjoyed is indeed God, but God with those gifts which flatter the soul, God in darkness, in privation, in forsakenness, in sensibility, is so much God, that he is so to speak God bare and alone. Shall we fear this death, which is to produce in us the true divine life of grace?

The blood of a nation ought never to be shed except for its own preservation in the utmost extremity.

Resign every forbidden joy; restrain every wish that is not referred to God's will; banish all eager desires, all anxiety; desire only the will of God; seek him alone and supremely, and you will find peace.

Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent toward those of others.

Should we feel at times disheartened and discouraged, a simple movement of heart toward God will renew our powers. Whatever he may demand of us, he will give us at the moment the strength and courage that we need.

God has not chosen to save us without crosses; as He has not seen fit to create men at once in the full vigor of manhood, but has suffered them to grow up by degrees amid all the perils and weaknesses of youth.

All wars are civil ones; for it is still man spilling his own blood, tearing out his own bowels.

There is never any peace for those who resist God.

Speak, move, act in peace, as if you were in prayer. In truth, this is prayer.

There is nothing that is more dangerous to your own salvation, more unworthy of God and more harmful to your own happiness, than that you should be content to remain as you are.

We must have faith during the period of our grief. We think that our afflictions will be greater than we can bear, but we do not know the strength of our own hearts, nor the power of God. He knows all. He knows every folding of the heart and also the extent of the sorrow that he inflicts. What we think will overwhelm us entirely only subdues and conquers our pride. Our renewed spirit rises from its subjugation with a celestial strength and consolation.

Worry is the cross which we make for ourselves by over anxiety.

Our piety must be weak and imperfect if it do not conquer our fear of death.

A good historian is timeless; although he is a patriot, he will never flatter his country in any respect.

As long as anything in this world means anything to you, your freedom is only a word. You are like a bird that is held by a leash; you can only fly so far.

Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of our self-confidence.

Speak, move, act in peace.

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

The greatest defect of common education is, that we are in the habit of putting pleasure all on one side, and weariness on the other; all weariness in study, all pleasure in idleness.

If we were faultless we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate.

Can we be unsafe where God has placed us, and where He watches over us as a parent a child that he loves?

I no longer desire anything but to be Thine.

Sordid and infamous sensuality, the most dreadful evil that issued from the box of Pandora, corrupts every heart, and eradicates every virtue. Fly! wherefore dost thou linger? Fly, cast not one look behind thee; nor let even thy thought return to the accursed evil for a moment.

Nothing marks so much the solid advancement of a soul, as the view of one's wretchedness without anxiety and without discouragement.

There are two principal points of attention necessary for the preservation of this constant spirit of prayer which unites us with God; we must continually seek to cherish it, and we must avoid everything that tends to make us lose it.

Prayer is so necessary, and the source of so many blessings, that he who has discovered the treasure cannot be prevented from having recourse to it, whenever he has an opportunity.

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

When kings interfere in matters of religion, they enslave instead of protecting it.

Simplicity is that grace which frees the soul from all unnecessary reflections upon itself.

Nothing is more false and more indiscreet than always to want to choose what mortifies us in everything. By this rule a person would soon ruin his health, his business, his reputation, his relations with his relatives and friends, in fact every good work which Providence gives him.

How can you expect God to speak in that gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections? Be silent and God will speak again.

The wind of God is always blowing... but you must hoist your sail.

The smallest things become great when God requires them of us; they are small only in themselves; they are always great when they are done for God.

Let us pray God that He would root out of our hearts every thing of our own planting, and set out there, with His own hands, the tree of life, bearing all manner of fruits.

To will everything that God wills, and to will it always, in all circumstances and without reservations: that is the kingdom of God which is entirely within.

It is when God appears to have abandoned us that we must abandon ourselves most wholly to God.

Real friends are our greatest joy and our greatest sorrow. It were almost to be wished that all true and faithful friends should expire on the same day.

Faith is letting down our nets into the transparent deeps at the Divine command, not knowing what we shall draw.

Time is given us that we may take care for eternity; and eternity will not be too long to regret the loss of our time if we have misspent it.

If we were faultless, we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate. If we were to acknowledge honestly that we have not virtue enough to bear patiently with our neighbor's weaknesses, we should show our own imperfection, and this alarms our vanity.

True prayer is only another name for the love of God. Its excellence does not consist in the multitude of our words; for our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. The true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart prays only for what it desires. To pray, then is to desire -- but to desire what God would have us desire. He who asks what he does not from the bottom of his heart desire, is mistaken in thinking that he prays.

I would have no desire other than to accomplish thy will. Teach me to pray; pray thyself in me.

All earthly delights are sweeter in expectation than in enjoyment; but all spiritual pleasures more in fruition than in expectation.