If the Company takes my advice, it will always be preserved through this maxim, for if we are good, we will not lack any, and if we are not, we already have too many houses anyway, and can hardly fill the few we have.
Vincent de PaulWhat a reason the Company has for observing its Rules faithfully: to do what the Son of God came into the world to do! That there should be a Company, and that it should be the Company of the Mission, composed of poor men, and that it should be entirely dedicated to that purpose, going here and there through hamlets and villages, leaving the towns behind-something that's never been done-and going to announce the Gospel only to persons who are poor; yet, those are our Rules!
Vincent de Paul...Seek counsel of very pious, disinterested persons, and follow the call of O[ur] L[ord] and the advice of those persons.
Vincent de PaulThere is nothing good that does not meet with opposition, and it should not be valued any less because it encounters objections.
Vincent de PaulIf, 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.
Vincent de PaulYou know that you yourself are not always in the same state. If you are exact today, closely united to God, and a consolation to the whole house, tomorrow you will be out of sorts, indolent, and a source of affliction to others. Then you will need their support, as you have supported them.
Vincent de Paul