“And this is one of the most crucial definitions for the whole of Christianity; that the opposite of sin is not virtue but faith.”

My standpoint is armed neutrality.

It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.

There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.

Once you are born in this world you’re old enough to die.

The present state of the world and the whole of life is diseased. If I were a doctor and were asked for my advice, I should reply, ‘Create silence’.

Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth — look at the dying man’s struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.

Don’t forget to love yourself.

It is the duty of the human understanding to understand that there are things which it cannot understand.

The self-assured believer is a greater sinner in the eyes of God than the troubled disbeliever.

My sorrow is my castle.

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.

It is very important in life to know when your cue comes.

Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.

People understand me so poorly that they don’t even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.

It is impossible to exist without passion.

The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted.

No matter how deep our darkness, he is deeper still.

Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened.

Faith is a sounder guide than reason. Reason can only go so far, but faith has no limits.

If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God?

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog — the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.

One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.

It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason.

By being persistent, you’re demonstrating faith. Persistence is simply another word for faith. If you didn’t have faith, you’d never persist.