Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.

I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.

Lord, how Thou dost afflict Thy lovers!

There is more security in self-denial, mortification, and other like virtues, than in an abundance of tears.

The best thing must be to flee from all to the All.

I say the same of humility and of all the virtues; the wiles of the devil are terrible, he will run a thousand times round hell if by so doing he can make us believe that we have a single virtue which we have not. And he is right, for such ideas are very harmful, and such imaginary virtues, when they come from this source, are never unaccompanied by vainglory; just as those which God gives are free both from this and from pride.

I was living an extremely burdensome life, because every time I prayed, I became more clearly aware of my faults. On the one hand, God was calling me. On the other, I was following the way of the world. Doing what God wanted made me happy; but I felt bound by the things of this world.