We do not very often come across opportunities for exercising strength, magnanimity, or magnificence; but gentleness, temperance, modesty, and humility, are graces which ought to colour everything we do. There may be virtues of a more exalted mould, but... these are the most continually called for in daily life.
Saint Francis de SalesYou learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.
Saint Francis de SalesNever be hurried in anything. Do all things calmly and in a spirit of repose. Do not lose your inward peace even if everything seems to be going wrong. What is anything in life compared to peace of soul?
Saint Francis de SalesBig fires flare up in a wind, but little ones are blown out unless they are carried in under cover.
Saint Francis de SalesGo in all simplicity; do not be anxious to win a quiet mind, and it will be all the quieter. Do not examine so closely into the progress of your soul. Do not crave too much to be perfect, but let your spiritual life beformed by your duties, and by the actions which are called forth by circumstances.
Saint Francis de SalesFrequent not the company of immodest persons, especially if they be also impudent, as is generally the case; ...these corrupted souls and infected hearts scarcely speak to any, either of the same or a different sex, without causing them to fall in some degree from purity; they have poison in their eyes and in their breath, like basilisks. On the contrary, keep company with the chaste and virtuous; often meditate upon and read holy things; for the word of God is chaste, and makes those also chaste that delight in it.
Saint Francis de SalesMake friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs.
Saint Francis de SalesWhen you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
Saint Francis de SalesFaith fills a man with love for the beauty of its truth, with faith in the truth of its beauty
Saint Francis de SalesWhile extremely sensitive as to the slightest approach to slander, you must also guard against an extreme into which some people fall, who, in their desire to speak evil of no one, actually uphold and speak well of vice.
Saint Francis de SalesSince God often sends us inspirations by means of His angels, we should frequently return our aspirations to him by means of the same messengers.
Saint Francis de SalesProfessions of humility are the very cream, the very essence of pride; the really humble person wishes to be, and not to appear so. Humility is timorous, and starts at her shadow; and so delicate that if she hears her name pronounced it endangers her existence.
Saint Francis de SalesThough perseverance does not come from our power, yet it comes within our power.
Saint Francis de SalesTo lose ourselves in God is simply to give up our own will to Him. When a soul can truly say Lord I have no other will than Thine it is truly lost in God and united to Him.
Saint Francis de SalesThere are no galley-slaves in the royal vessel of divine love - every man works his oar voluntarily!
Saint Francis de SalesBe not miserable about what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father, who cares for you today, will care for you tomorrow.
Saint Francis de SalesIf after all your efforts you cannot succeed, you could not please our Lord more than by sacrificing to Him your will, and remaining in tranquility, humility, and devotion, entirely conformed and submissive to His divine will and good pleasure.
Saint Francis de SalesHave patience with all things - but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that.
Saint Francis de SalesIt is wonderful how attractive a gentle, pleasant manner is, and how much it wins hearts.
Saint Francis de SalesOne of the most evil dispositions possible is that which satirizes and turns everything to ridicule. God abhors this vice, and has sometimes punished it in a marked manner
Saint Francis de SalesEvery moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it.
Saint Francis de SalesHumility consists in not esteeming ourselves above other men, and in not seeking to be esteemed above them.
Saint Francis de SalesFaith is like a bright ray of sun light. It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.
Saint Francis de SalesThe merit of the cross does not consist in its heaviness, but in the manner in which we carry it. I would even say that it is sometimes more virtuous to carry a cross of straw than a heavy cross because we have to be more attentive for fear of losing it.
Saint Francis de SalesThose who love to be feared fear to be loved, and they themselves are more afraid than anyone, for whereas other men fear only them, they fear everyone.
Saint Francis de SalesThe truly patient man neither complains of his hard lot nor desires to be pitied by others. He speaks of his sufferings in a natural, true, and sincere way, without murmuring, complaining, or exaggerating them.
Saint Francis de SalesNaturally we all have an inclination to command, and a great aversion to obey; and yet it is certain that it is more for our good to obey than to command; hence perfect souls have always had a great affection for obedience, and have found all their joy and comfort in it.
Saint Francis de SalesThose who pray from the heart do not think about the prayer they are saying, but about the God to whom they pray.
Saint Francis de SalesAll the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever had done these two things best, has made himself most saintly.
Saint Francis de SalesHe prays well who is so absorbed with God that he does not know he is praying.
Saint Francis de SalesBe neat, Philothea; let nothing be negligent about you. It is a kind of contempt of those with whom we converse, to frequent their company in uncomely apparel; but, at the same time, avoid all affectation, vanity, curiosity, or levity in your dress. Keep yourself always, as much as possible, on the side of plainness and modesty, which, without doubt, is the greatest ornament of beauty, and the best excuse for the want of it.
Saint Francis de SalesThere is no better means of attainment to the spiritual life Than by continually beginning again.
Saint Francis de SalesTruly it is a blessed thing to love on earth as we hope to love in Heaven, and to begin that friendship here which is to endure for ever there.
Saint Francis de SalesGod requires a faithful fulfillment of the merest trifle given us to do, rather than the most ardent aspiration to things to which we are not called.
Saint Francis de SalesAll of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be.
Saint Francis de SalesRepresent to yourself a dark city all burning and stinking with fire and brimstone. The damned are in the depth of hell within this woful city, where they suffer unspeakable torments in all their senses and members. Consider above all the eternity of their pains, which above all things makes hell intolerable.
Saint Francis de Sales