One beautiful diamond is worth more than a mountain of stones, and one virtuous act of acquiescence and submission is better than an abundance of good works done for others.

Scandal often does as much harm to the listeners as to those who devise it, even if it were to do no other harm than disturb the mind, as it does, and give rise to temptations to speak or write about it to others.

. . . [I]n the kingdom of charity, one prefers to suffer some inconvenience rather than inconvenience the neighbor.

All beginnings are somewhat strange; but we must have patience, and little by little, we shall find things, which at first were obscure, becoming clearer.

. . . in the final analysis, virtue is not found in extremes, but in prudence . . .

There is a vast difference between an Apostolic life and the solitude of the Carthusians. The latter is truly very holy but is not suited to those whom God has called to the former, which is in itself more excellent.

Laws must never be made compatible with crimes, no more than lying should be in harmony with the truth.