Algebra and money are essentially levelers; the first intellectually, the second effectively.

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

A science which does not bring us nearer to God is worthless.

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.

Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody really possesses it.

Sin is not a distance, it is a turning of our gaze in the wrong direction.

Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.