To be ordinary is not a choice: It is the usual freedom of men without visions.

The center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth.

A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly.

Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions in the depths of the heart like wounds that cannot stop bleeding.

Hurry ruins saints as well as artists.

Our Christian destiny is, in fact, a great one: but we cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great. For our own idea of greatness is illusory, and if we pay too much attention to it we will be lured out of the peace and stability of the being God gave us, and seek to live in a myth we have created for ourselves. And when we are truly ourselves we lose most of the futile self-consciousness that keeps us constantly comparing ourselves with others in order to see how big we are.

I myself am part of the weather and part of the climate and part of the place … It is certainly part of my life of prayer.