. . . It is God's plan that those who are to help others spiritually fall into the temptations of mind and body by which others can be tormented. . . . Scorn both these evil suggestions and the wickedness of their author, who is the devil.

Our Lord is pleased to deprive us of temporal goods; may it please His Divine Goodness to give us spiritual ones!

The wisest persons, surprised by some passion, often say things they later regret.

It is a ruse of the devil, by which he deceives good people, to induce them to do more than they are able, so that they end up not being able to do anything. The spirit of God urges one gently to do the good that can be done reasonably, so that it may be done perseveringly and for a long time.

If we want to find the manna hidden in our vocation, let us restrict and confine all our desires within it.

. . . [A]s a rule, the most learned persons do not produce the greatest results. We see that only too often.

In a word, we are like the servants of the centurion in the Gospel with regard to the bishops, insofar as when they say to us: go, we are obliged to go; if they say: come, we are obliged to come; do that, and we are obliged to do it.