The villagers seldom leave the village; many scientists have limited and poorly cultivated minds apart from their specialty.

The difference between more or less intelligent men is like the difference between criminals condemned to life imprisonment in smaller or larger cells. The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like a condemned man who is proud of his large cell.

Nothing is worse than extreme affliction which destroys the "I" from the outside, because after that we can no longer destroy it ourselves.

We cannot take a step toward the heavens. God crosses the universe and comes to us.

To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life.

As for the spirit of poverty, I do not remember any moment when it was not in me, although only to that unhappily small extent compatible with my imperfection. I fell in love with Saint Francis of Assisi as soon as I came to know about him. I always believed and hoped that one day Fate would force upon me the condition of a vagabond and a beggar which he embraced freely. Actually I felt the same way about prison.

It is not my business to think about myself. My business is to think about God. It is for God to think about me.