[N]or should you move so fast! The works of God do not proceed in that way; they come about of themselves, and those He does not create soon perish.

He is greatly honored by the time we take to weigh with mature deliberation matters having to do with his service, as are all those with which we deal.

. . . [T]hose persons who console you today may humiliate you tomorrow.

Who will excuse us before God for the loss of such a great number of people, who could be saved by the slight assistance we could give them?

If, in order to succeed in an enterprise, I were obliged to choose between fifty deer commanded by a lion, and fifty lions commanded by a deer, I should consider myself more certain of success with the first group than with the second.

[M]ost people offend God by passing judgment on the things others do, especially important people, not knowing the reasons why they are doing what they do; for when one does not know the primary cause of some matter, what conclusions can he draw from it?

Nevertheless, when one is ill, one should be submissive to the doctor and obey him.