Of two men who have no experience of God, he who denies him is perhaps nearer to him than the other.

There are only two sorts of greatness: true greatness, which is of a spiritual order, and the old, old lie of world conquest. Conquest is an ersatz greatness.

Academic work is one of those fields which contain a pearl so precious that it is worth while to sell all our possessions, keeping nothing for ourselves, in order to be able to acquire it.

one is never got out of the cave, one comes out of it.

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.

Christians ought to suspect that affliction is the very essence of creation. To be a created thing is not necessarily to be afflicted, but it is necessarily to be exposed to affliction. ... Affliction is the surest sign that God wishes to be loved by us; it is the most precious evidence of His tenderness.

There is no detachment where there is no pain. And there is no pain endured without hatred or lying unless detachment is present too.