“The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us – that is all He asks.”

Even now I know it: yes, all my hopes will be fulfilled… yes… the Lord will work wonders for me which will surpass infinitely my immeasurable desires.

How happy I am to see myself as imperfect and to be in need of God’s mercy.

A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.

True charity consists in putting up with all one’s neighbors fault’s; never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.

Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender.

Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be.

The country in which I live is not my native country, that lies elsewhere, and it must always be the center of my longings.

What a joy to remember that she is our Mother! Since she loves us and knows our weakness, what have we to fear?

Life is only a dream: soon, we shall awaken. And what joy! The greater our sufferings, the more limitless our glory. Oh! do not let us waste the trial Jesus sends.

Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude.

It isn’t enough to love; we must prove it.

The value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place.

Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be and becoming that person.

I want to shine like a little candle before His altar.

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.

Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words.

You can make yourself happy or miserable – it’s the same amount of effort.

Good kids are like sunsets. We take them for granted. Every evening they disappear. Most parents never imagine how hard they try to please us, and how miserable they feel when they think they have failed.

Because we live in a largely free society, we tend to forget how limited is the span of time and the part of the globe for which there has ever been anything like political freedom: the typical state of mankind is tyranny, servitude, and misery.

A still small voice spake unto me, ‘Thou art so full of misery, Were it not better not to be?

Rock bottom is a crisis. And everyone wants to avoid crisis. But what ‘crisis’ means literally is ‘to sift’ – like a child who goes to the beach, lifts up the sand, and watches all the sand fall away, hoping that there’s treasure left over. That’s what crisis does.

Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries. Yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.

They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?

All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.