Teach me, 0 God, not to torture myself, not to make a martyr out of myself through stifling reflection, but rather teach me to breathe deeply in faith.

An individual in despair despairs over something. . . . In despairing over something, he really despair[s] over himself, and now he wants to get rid of himself. Consequently, to despair over something is still not despair proper. . . . To despair over oneself, in despair to will to be rid of oneself-this is the formula for all despair.

Christ has not only spoken to us by his life but has also spoken for us by his death.

A man's personality is matured only when he appropriates the truth, whether it is spoken by Balaam's ass or a sniggering wag or an apostle or an angel.

There are men who are wanting in the comparative, they as a rule are the most interesting.

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.

I have only one confidant, and that is the silence of night.