The pastor should always be pure in thought ... no impurity ought to pollute him who has undertaken the office of wiping away the stains in the hearts of others ... for the hand that would cleanse from dirt must be clean, lest, being itself sordid with clinging mire, it soil whatever it touches all the more.

If the intention is unclean, the deed that follows from it will also be evil, even if it seems good.

The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.

Obedience is the only virtue that plants the other virtues in the heart and preserves them after they have been planted.

The universe is not rich enough to buy the vote of an honest man.

You cannot acquire the gift of peace if by your anger you destroy the peace of the Lord.

To do penance is to bewail the evil we have done, and to do no evil to bewail.