As soon as men know that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers with approving smiles.
Why is it that reality, when set down untransposed in a book, sounds false?
It is human misery and not pleasure which contains the secret of the divine wisdom.
We must not wish for the disappearance of our troubles but for the grace to transform them.
Beauty is a fruit which we look at without trying to seize it.
Only an indirect method is effective. We do nothing if we have not first drawn back.