In the Church, considered as a social organism, the mysteries inevitably degenerate into beliefs.

A beautiful woman looking at her image in the mirror may very well believe the image is herself. An ugly woman knows it is not.

When we hit a nail with a hammer, the whole of the shock received by the large head of the nail passes into the point without any of it being lost, although it is only a point. If the hammer and the head of the nail were infinitely big it would be just the same. The point of the nail would transmit this infinite shock at the point to which it was applied. Extreme affliction, which means physical pain, distress of soul and social degradation, all at the same time, constitutes the nail. The point is applied at the very center of the soul, whose head is all necessity, spreading throughout space and time.

Sin is nothing else but the failure to recognize human wretchedness.

Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.

In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.

We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them.