Wherever it pleases God to put man in this world, the Christian must be ready for martyrdom and death. It is only in this way that man learns faith.
In recent years we have seen a great deal of bravery and self-sacrifice, but civil courage hardly anywhere, even among ourselves.
By his willingly renouncing self-defence, the Christian affirms his absolute adherence to Jesus, and his freedom from the tyranny of his own ego. The exclusiveness of this adherence is the only power which can overcome evil.
Politics are not the task of a Christian.
Only in Jesus are we able to pray, and with Him we also know that we shall be heard.
To recognize the significant in the factual is wisdom.
The biggest mistake you can make in your life is to be always afraid of making a mistake.
It is infinitely easier to suffer in obedience to a human command than to accept suffering as free, responsible men.
The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential.
There remains an experience of incomparable value.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all he has. It is the pearl of great price to by which the merchant will sell all his goods.
Once again, Jesus calls those who follow him to share his passion.
The cross is suffering with Christ.
If religion is onlya garment of Christianityand even this garment has looked very different at different timesthen what is religionless Christianity?
The right way to requite evil, according to Jesus, is not to resist it. This saying of Christ removes the Church from the sphere of politics and law.
Once a man has truly experienced the mercy of God in his life he will henceforth aspire only to serve.
Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians because we are talking when we should be listening.
Principles are only tools in the hands of God; they will soon be thrown away when they are no longer useful.
One’s task is not to turn the world upside down, but to do what is necessary at the given place and with a due consideration of reality.
Monastic life thus became a living protest against the secularization of Christianity, against the cheapening of grace.