Remain tranquil and prepare to bear still greater trials. All is not lost even though you be troubled oftener or tempted more grievously. You are a man, not God. You are flesh, not an angel. How can you possibly expect to remain always in the same state of virtue when the angels in heaven and the first man in paradise failed to do so? I am He who rescues the afflicted and brings to My divinity those who know their own weakness.
Thomas a KempisIf you bear the cross unwillingly, you make it a burden, and load yourself more heavily; but you must bear it.
Thomas a KempisPurity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.
Thomas a KempisLove feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible.
Thomas a Kempis