To preserve our cheerfulness amid sicknesses and troubles, is a sign of a right and good spirit.

He who feels that the vice of avarice has got hold of him, should not wish to observe fasts of supererogation, but to give alms.

Where there is no great mortification there is no great sanctity.

We are not saints yet, but we, too, should beware. Uprightness and virtue do have their rewards, in self-respect and in respect from others, and it is easy to find ourselves aiming for the result rather than the cause. Let us aim for joy, rather than respectability. Let us make fools of ourselves from time to time, and thus see ourselves, for a moment, as the all-wise God sees us.

The greatness of our love of God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His love.

Even though a man may be unable to attain such a height of sanctity, he ought to desire it, so as to do at least in desire what he cannot carry out in effect.

The perfection of a Christian consists in mortifying his will for the love of Christ. Where there is no great mortification, there is no great sanctity.