Some quotations I've collected that I thought might be brief useful reading.
Action precedes motivation.
— Karate sensei Fabrice Veron
(空手の先生 ベロン ファッブリス, if I can guess at how to spell his name).
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So we've got to plan.
— Dr.
Scott Hahn on EWTN
A person isn't dangerous. People are dangerous.— attribute to the film Men in Black by Jackson Timmerman; cf. quotations via IMDB
I have not so lived amongst you, that I need be ashamed to live; nor do I fear to die, for we have a good Lord.— St. Ambrose, "Ambrose, Saint" by James F. Loughlin
What fun is it being "cool" if you can't wear a sombrero?— Hobbes from "Calvin and Hobbes" by Bill Watterson, 15 November 1986
The sense of the miracle of humanity itself should be always more vivid to us than any marvels of power, intellect, art, or civilization.
It is obvious that tradition is only democracy extended through time. It is trusting to a consensus of common human voices rather than to some isolated or arbitrary record. [...] Tradition means giving votes to [...] our ancestors. [...] Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.
It is not earth that judges heaven, but heaven that judges earth [...]
The goodness of the fairy tale was not affected by the fact that there might be more dragons than princesses; it was good to be in a fairy tale.
In fact, all my first views were exactly uttered in a riddle that stuck in my brain from boyhood. The question was,What did the first frog say?And the answer was,Lord, how you made me jump!
I felt and feel that life itself is as bright as the diamond, but as brittle as the window-pane; and when the heavens were compared to the terrible crystal I can remember a shudder. I was afraid that God would drop the cosmos with a crash.
Seek the God of compassion, not the compassion of God.— podcast from Catholic Answers
— Kreeft and Tacelli, "The Bottom Line", Handbook of Catholic ApologeticsHonesty is [...] more momentous than we often think. It is also much harder than we think. Our culture trivializes honesty into merely
sharing your feelings, telling others about the state of your nerve endings. That's not the opposite of dishonesty; that's just the opposite of shame, or shyness. Shallow honesty seekssharing[and stops there]; deep honesty seeks truth. Shallow honesty stands in the presence of others; deep honesty stands in the presence of God.
[T]here are three kinds of people: those who have sought God and found him, those who are seeking and have not yet found, and those who neither seek nor find. The first are reasonable and happy, the second are reasonable and unhappy, the third are both unreasonable and unhappy.— Pascal, paraphrased in Handbook of Catholic Apologetics by Kreeft and Tacelli
Ambition makes you look pretty ugly.— "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead
When all you've got is nothing, there's a lot to go around.— "Through Heaven's Eyes" from the Prince of Egypt soundtrack
[O]ur whole peace in this miserable life consisteth rather in humble sufferance, than in not feeling adversities. He that can best tell how to suffer, will best keep himself in peace. That man is conqueror of himself, and lord of the world, the friend of Christ, and heir of Heaven.— Book II, Chapter III
By two wings, a man is lifted up from things earthly, namely, by Simplicity and Purity. Simplicity ought to be in our intention; Purity in our affections. Simplicity doth tend towards God; Purity doth apprehend and taste Him.— Book II, Chapter IV
Better it is to have a small portion of good sense with humility, and a slender understanding, than great treasures of science with vain self-complacency.— Book III, Chapter VII
— Book IV, Chapter XVIIIFaith is required at thy hands, and a sincere life; not height of understanding, nor the depth of the mysteries of God.
If thou dost not understand, nor conceive the things that are beneath thee, how shalt thou comprehend those which are above thee?
Submit thyself unto God, and humble thy sense to faith, and the light of knowledge shall be given thee, in such degree as shall be profitable and necessary for thee.
Quello che il bruco chiama fine del mondo, il resto del mondo chiama farfalla.(What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.) — Beth Mirzal's email signature
It is not religion that is the opiate of the people, but atheism that is the opiate of the morally corrupt. [...] Death, previously the justification for morality, now becomes a justification for immorality.— Dinesh D'Souza, discussing why materialists desire no afterlife as liberation from guilt
Values are caught, not taught.— Patrick Coffen
If you look at a street person and are repulsed by what you see, it shows something equally repulsive inside of you.— Sister Mary Alice
That coat in your closet that you no longer wear belongs to the poor.— Dorothy Day
Courage is fear that has said its prayers.— Dorothy Bernard
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.— Plato
We are interested in others when they are interested in us.— attributed to Publius Syrus by Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People
If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.
Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.— St. Thomas Aquinas
Science asks how and what, philosophy asks why, religion asks who.— Peter Kreeft in Making Sense Out of Suffering
There are two great tragedies in life: The first is to not get what we most ardently desire. The second is to get it.— attributed to Oscar Wilde
You'll never see your true beauty if you don't stop looking at mirrors.
God can't drive a parked car. (Sometimes you gotta get moving so He can steer you.)— "Life on the Rock" TV show (seen 14 April 2011)
Man is the only joker in the deck of nature.— Fulton Sheen, "Life is Worth Living"
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who accept dogma and know it, and those who accept dogma and don't know it.— G.K. Chesterton
Others are apt to take us at our own valuation.— Laura Ingalls Wilder
One plus God is an army.— Jerry Usher, hosting "Why I Stopped Dispensing the Pill" with pharmacist Mike Koelzer, 2011 Catholic Answers LIVE broadcast
Remember this, Sister, for your whole life: as waters flow from the mountains down into the valleys, so, too, do God's graces flow only into humble souls.— Father Andrasz, S.J.; from paragraph 55 of the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
To love and serve God, there is no need to do anything strange or unusual. Christ bids all people without exception to be perfect as His heavenly Father is perfect. Sanctity, for the vast majority of people, implies sanctifying their work, sanctifying themselves in it, and sanctifying others through it. Thus they can encounter God in the course of their daily lives.— St. Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975)
Do not be afraid, Jesus tells us.— Pope John Paul IILet yourself be open to my transforming love and power. You will not lose your identity. Rather you will blossom into your truest self – into the full stature of Christ. In so doing, you will find your true meaning and definition and happiness.
To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.
There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.
Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone is enough.
— Mary StevensonOne night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.So I said to the Lord,
You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?The Lord replied,
The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you.
Mark traveller this humble stone
'Tis death's kind warning to prepare
Thou too must hasten to the tomb
And mingle with corruption there
The Protestant Reformation began when a Catholic monk discovered a Catholic doctrine in a Catholic book.— attributed to Peter Kreeft by Marcellino D'Ambrosio in "How the Reformation Happened", 8 November podcast from Catholic Answers LIVE
One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that. No ordinary man could be such a fool.— attributed to George Orwell by Roy Abraham Varghese
Alright, girls. If we win tonight's game, I get — I mean, we get that giant trophy, and I don't have to tell you ladies how much that trophy means to me. Remember girls, it may be true that winning isn't everything, but losing is nothing!– Ed Bighead, "Gutterball", Rocko's Modern Life: Season 2
Tsk. Tsk. Leon?
Yuh, tsk. Mmhm.
Three tsks.
That's a tsk all the way!
Triple tsk.— Chuck and Leon, aka the Chameleon Brothers; Rocko's Modern Life: Season 1, "No Pain, No Gain", 1993.
Hahaha, I can go by the same place many times!— Heffer Wolfe, "Carnival Knowledge", Rocko's Modern Life: Season 1 1993.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.– Thomas Jefferson
Every day holds out to us a choice between shallowness and living faith, between fear and living hope, between self-centeredness and living love.— Morris, Jonathan (2011-04-19). God Wants You Happy: From Self-Help to God's Help (p. 194). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
He holds in check the waterdrops that filter in rain through his mists, till the skies run with them and the showers rain down on mankind.— Job 36:27-28
Even when not motivated by a selfish refusal to be burdened with the life of someone who is suffering, euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing
perversionof mercy. Truecompassionleads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear.
[S]uffering [...] can always become a source of good [...] through sharing [...] in the suffering of Christ Crucified. In this way, the person who lives his suffering in the Lord grows more fully conformed to him (cf. Phil 3:10; 1 Pet 2:21) and more closely associated with his redemptive work on behalf of the Church and humanity. This was the experience of Saint Paul, which every person who suffers is called to relive:
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his Body, that is, the Church(Col 1:24).
human law is law inasmuch as it is in conformity with right reason and thus derives from the eternal law. But when a law is contrary to reason, it is called an unjust law; but in this case it ceases to be a law and becomes instead an act of violence. And again:Every law made by man can be called a law insofar as it derives from the natural law. But if it is somehow opposed to the natural law, then it is not really a law but rather a corruption of the law
As Saint Augustine writes,
the beginning of freedom is to be free from crimes... like murder, adultery, fornication, theft, fraud, sacrilege and so forth. Only when one stops committing these crimes (and no Christian should commit them), one begins to lift up one's head towards freedom. But this is only the beginning of freedom, not perfect freedom
This is how Saint Gregory of Nyssa understands it:
Man, as a being, is of no account; he is dust, grass, vanity. But once he is adopted by the God of the universe as a son, he becomes part of the family of that Being, whose excellence and greatness no one can see, hear or understand. What words, thoughts or flight of the spirit can praise the superabundance of this grace? Man surpasses his nature: mortal, he becomes immortal; perishable, he becomes imperishable; fleeting, he becomes eternal; human, he becomes divine
the ever relevant words of Saint John Chrysostom:
Do you wish to honour the body of Christ? Do not neglect it when you find it naked. Do not do it homage here in the church with silk fabrics only to neglect it outside where it suffers cold and nakedness.
[F]orgiving the daily grind of little offenses [...] requires an unrelenting compassion for all those around us every day.— Aileen O'Donoghue in Living Faith: Daily Catholic Devotions, Volume 27 No. 2
— A. Devine,The
spiritual fruits are, interior peace which remains after
the time of prayer, profound humility, aptitude and a
disposition for spiritual duties, a heavenly light in the
intellect, and stability of the will in goodness. It is
by such fruits true mystics may be discerned and
distinguished from false mystics.
Quiet, Prayer offrom the Catholic Encyclopedia
Peace is not the product of terror or fear. ... Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty.— Archbishop Oscar Romero, 1980
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.— St. Thomas Aquinas, 13th century (Charity, then, has to do with things that are seen or are at hand! Thus the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity cover all of human experience.)
Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.— St. Thérèse of Lisieux of the Little Flower, 1896
If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.— Blessed Mother Teresa
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?— RSV Micah 6:8
Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one's self unspotted from this world.— DRB James 1:27
Jesus calls us to be a light in the darkness, not a spark in a bonfire.— Deacon John Green
Mr. Krabs, do you think it might be kinda unhealthy to be feeding people all this grease?
Unhealthy?! Boy, didn't anyone ever tell ya –
Tell me what?
Questions are a danger to you and a burden to others.
If I have to see one more boatmobile, —
— Spongebob
Spongebob! You're mannin' the drivethrough.
— Mr Krabs
When did we get a drivethrough?!
I realized there's a lot of young people 'on-the-go' these days. They don't
have time to sit down and
eat. They're too busy out on the open road living their dreams.
I... used to have a dream.
Yeah? I used to have a kidney stone. Everything passes eventually. Now stop dreaming and work for a
living!
laborare est orare– to toil is to pray. — from "Prayer" by John J. Wynne from the Catholic Encyclopedia
— RSV Sirach 21:2Flee from sin as from a snake;
for if you approach sin, it will bite you.
Its teeth are lion's teeth,
and destroy the souls of men.
I suffer no confusion because my bible is Church-based.— po18guy (This line will make the most sense to a Catholic dealing with Fundamentalist Protestant Christians, particularly in the Bible Belt of the USA.)
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.— Churchill
Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.— Catechism of the Catholic Church 2339
He who has himself as a guide has a fool for a disciple.— Chastity.com Q&A. Similar is the proverb,
Without counsel plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed(Proverbs 15:22).
Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest near them, they will take hold of thee.— Sirach 21:2.
Thou hast made us, O Lord, for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.— St. Augustine, Confessions
The wise man eats to live; the epicure lives to eat.— "Good" by James J. Fox
The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.— Thomas Carlyle
You can't be dignified when you're having fun.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.— St. Paul (Letter to the Christians at Philippi), Philippians 4:6
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."— Maya Angelou
More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and action of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.— Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
I sighed, and Thou heardest me; I vacillated, and Thou didst guide me; I roamed through the broad way of the world, and Thou didst not desert me.— St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, book VI chapter 5. Translated by J.G. Pilkington, M.A.
Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.— Attributed to St. Ignatius Loyola, cf. Joseph de Guibert, SJ, The Jesuits: Their Spiritual Doctrine and Practice, (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1964), 148, n. 55. (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) paragraph 2834)
There is a connection between purity of heart, of body, and of faith: The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed "so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe."— from CCC paragraph 2518, citing St. Augustine, Defide et symbolo 10,25:PL 40,196
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.— Dr. Seuss
[young husbands should say to their wives:] I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us. . . . I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you.
— St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Eph. 20,8:PG 62,146-147 (from Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2365)Bad intentions cannot travel as far as good.— The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima, chapter 6
God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.— Soren Kierkegaard
O Lamb of God! Imprint on my heart such repentance that I may prefer to die rather than ever to offend You again.— Blessed Mary of the Angels
— Prayer of St. FrancisLord, make me an instrument of Your peace. where there is hatred let me sow love, where there is injury let me sow pardon, where there is doubt let me sow faith, where there is despair let me give hope, where there is darkness let me give light, Where there is sadness let me give joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not try to be comforted but to comfort, not try to be understood but to understand, not try to be loved but to love. Because it is in giving that we receive, it is in forgiving that we are forgiven, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
The devil's snare doesn't catch you unless you're already nibbling on the devil's bait.— St. Ambrose of Milan
Impress on yourself this great truth: Even if all hell's devils come after you to tempt you, you won't sin unless you want to – provided that you don't trust in your own powers, but in the assistance of God. He doesn't refuse help to those who ask it with a lively faith.— St. Leonard of Port Maurice
— St. Thomas MoreThis covetous gathering and miserly keeping of wealth, with all the delight that we take in beholding it, is only a very gay and golden dream, in which we imagine we have great riches; and in the sleep of this life we are glad and proud of it. But when death has once awakened us, our dream shall vanish, and of all the treasure that we only dreamed about, we shall not find one penny left in our hand.
The day that is past must not judge the day that is present, nor the present day judge that which is past. It is only the Last Day that judges all.— St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
By your work you show what you love and what you know.— St. Bruno
Obedience is a little dog that leads the blind.— St. Joseph of Cupertino
Whatever a man prefers to God, he makes a god to himself.— St. Cyprian of Carthage
— Sirach 11.18-19There is a man who is rich through his diligence and self-denial, and this is the reward allotted to him:
when he says, "I have found rest, and now I shall enjoy my goods!" he does not know how much time will pass until he leaves them to others and dies.
Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.— Sirach 11.14
We set forth our petitions before God, not in order to make known to Him our needs and desires, but rather so that we ourselves may realize that in these things it is necessary to turn to God for help.— St. Thomas Aquinas
Our body is not made of iron. Our strength is not that of stone. Live and hope in the Lord, and let your service be reasonable.— St. Clare of Assisi
— St. Augustine of HippoIf you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is still humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts are fruitless.
— St. Thomas AquinasMarriage has three blessings. The first is children, to be received and raised for God's service. The second is the loyal faithfulness by which each serves the other. The third is the Sacrament of Matrimony, which signifies the inseparable union of Christ with His Church.
As iron is fashioned by the fire and on an anvil, so in the fire of suffering and under the weight of trials, our souls receive the form that Our Lord desires for them to have.— St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
The martyrs were bound, imprisoned, scourged, racked, burned, torn apart, butchered — and they multiplied.— St. Augustine of Hippo
Why lose your temper if by doing so you offend God, annoy other people, give yourself a bad time ... and in the end have to find it again?— St. Josemaría Escrivá
The fullness of life that God rightly expects from His children means that they have to have a careful concern for the quality of their everyday work, because it is this work, even in its most minor aspects, which they must sanctify.– St. Josemaría Escrivá
Don't permit your miseries or defects to depress you. Rather, let them be steps by which you descend into the deep mine where we find the precious gem of holy humility.– St. Paula Frassinetti
– St. PachomiusSay to your hands:
O hands, the time will come when you will be unable to move, and when you will never be clasped in each other again. Why then, before that time comes, don't you stretch yourselves out to the Lord in prayer?
– St. Francis De SalesThe everlasting God has in his wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that he now presents to you as a gift from his inmost heart. This cross he now sends you he has considered with his all-knowing eyes, understood with his divine mind, tested with his wise justice, warmed with loving arms, and weighed with his own hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with his holy name, anointed it with his consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God.
Imagine your anger to be a kind of wild beast, because it too has ferocious teeth and claws, and if you don't tame it, it will devastate all things. It not only hurts the body; it even corrupts the health of the soul, devouring, rending, tearing to pieces all its strength, and making it useless for everything.– St. John Chrysostom
If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read spiritual books regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.– St. Isidore of Seville
The purpose of clothing is to keep warm in winter and to cover your nakedness, not to serve your vanity.– St. Cyril of Jerusalem
If we want to do sometihng but cannot, then before God, who knows our hearts, it is the same as if we have done it. This is true whether the intended action is good or bad.– St. Mark the Ascetic
— Considerations Regarding Proposals To Give Legal Recognition To Unions Between Homosexual Persons from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith[...] Moral conscience requires that, in every occasion, Christians give witness to the whole moral truth, which is contradicted both by approval of homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons. [...]
In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection.
It is good not to hide your thoughts, but to talk them over with older believers who are discreet, devout, and more experienced.– St. Moses the Black
— The Galileo Controversy from Catholic AnswersAs Augustine put it,
One does not read in the Gospel that the Lord said:I will send you the Paraclete who will teach you about the course of the sun and moon.For he willed to make them Christians, not mathematicians.
Never read books you aren't sure about morally, even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?– St. John Bosco
If we are able to enter the church day and night and implore God to hear our prayers, how careful we should be to hear and grant the petitions of our neighbor in need.– St. John the Almoner
Remember that the Christian life is one of action, not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well.– St. Vincent Pallotti
In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word – and he has no more to say... because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.
The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love.
Don't you know that only those who are thoughtless and crazy consider the faithful departed to be dead?– St. John Eudes
As to more than these, my son, beware. Of the making of many books there is no end, and in much study there is weariness for the flesh. 7The last word, when all is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all; because God will bring to judgment every work, with all its hidden qualities, whether good or bad.
Footnotes: 7 [13] Man's all: St. Jerome explains:
Unto this is every man born that, knowing his Maker, he may revere him in fear, honor, and the observance of his commandments.
This page was last modified Friday, 09-Dec-2011 21:49:29 EST.