Resign every forbidden joy; restrain every wish that is not referred to God’s will; banish all eager desires, all anxiety; desire only the will of God; seek him alone and supremely, and you will find peace.
He who prays without confidence cannot hope that his prayers will be granted.
Nothing marks so much the solid advancement of a soul, as the view of one’s wretchedness without anxiety and without discouragement.
How different the peace of God from that of the world! It calms the passions, preserves the purity of the conscience, is inseparable from righteousness, unites us to God and strengthens us against temptations. The peace of the soul consists in an absolute resignation to the will of God.
God never makes us sensible of our weakness except to give us of His strength.
If we were faultless we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate.
We must truly serve those whom we appear to command; we must bear with their imperfections, correct them with gentleness and patience, and lead them in the way to heaven.
The history of the world suggests that without love of God there is little likelihood of a love for man that does not become corrupt.
We can often do more for other men by trying to correct our own faults than by trying to correct theirs.
As to our friend, I pray God to bestow upon him a simplicity that shall give him peace. Happy are they indeed who can bear their sufferings in the enjoyment of this simple peace and perfect acquiesence in the will of God.
We are not to choose the manner in which our blessings shall be bestowed.
Those who are wholly God’s are always happy.
O Lord, I do most cheerfully commit all unto Thee.
If we had strength and faith enough to trust ourselves entirely to God; and follow Him simply wherever He should lead us, we should have no need of any great effort of mind to reach perfection.
To will everything that God wills, and to will it always, in all circumstances and without reservations: that is the kingdom of God which is entirely within.
Genuine good taste consists in saying much in few words, in choosing among our thoughts, in having order and arrangement in what we say, and in speaking with composure.
It is when God appears to have abandoned us that we must abandon ourselves most wholly to God.
Real friends are our greatest joy and our greatest sorrow. It were almost to be wished that all true and faithful friends should expire on the same day.
God has not chosen to save us without crosses; as He has not seen fit to create men at once in the full vigor of manhood, but has suffered them to grow up by degrees amid all the perils and weaknesses of youth.
There were some who said that a man at the point of death was more free than all others, because death breaks every bond, and over the dead the united world has no power.