“Never react to an evil in such a way as to augment it.”

We are like plants which have the one choice of being in or out of the light.

Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.

Art is the symbol of the two noblest human efforts: to construct and to refrain from destruction.

Patriotism is idolatry of the self.

Every being cries out in silence to be read differently. Do not be indifferent to these cries.

Modern life is given over to immoderation. Immoderation invades everything: actions and thought, public and private life.

To be always relevant, you have to say things which are eternal.

It is much easier to imagine ourselves in the place of God the Creator than in the place of Christ crucified.

Contradiction is the lever of transcendence.

Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul.

There is only one fault, only one: our inability to feed upon light.

To die for God is not a proof of faith in God. To die for an unknown and repulsive convict who is a victim of injustice, that is a proof of faith in God.

The extreme greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that it does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering but a supernatural use for it.

Love: To feel with one’s whole self the existence of another being.

One has only the choice between God and idolatry. There is no other possibility. For the faculty of worship is in us, and it is either directed somewhere into this world, or into another.

There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction.

Evil may have its hour, but God will have His day.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others.

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing as they must if they believe they can do nothing. There is nothing worse because the council of despair is declaration of irresponsibility; it is Pilate washing his hands.

All that needs to be done for evil to prevail is good men doing nothing.

If you permit your thoughts to dwell on evil you yourself will become ugly. Look only for the good in everything so you absorb the quality of beauty.

Every fresh act of sin lessens fear and remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination.

People like to say that the conflict is between good and evil. The real conflict is between truth and lies.