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Love Is A Temporary Madness. It Erupts Like An Earthquake And Then Subsides. And When It Subsides You Have To Make A Decision. You Have To Work Out Whether Your Roots Have Become So Entwined Together That It Is Inconceivable That You Should Ever Part. Because This Is What Love Is. Love Is Not Breathlessness, It Is Not Excitement, It Is Not The Promulgation Of Promises Of Eternal Passion. That Is Just Being In Love Which Any Of Us Can Convince Ourselves We Are. Love Itself Is What Is Left Over When Being In Love Has Burned Away, And This Is Both An Art And A Fortunate Accident.

-Saint Augustine

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Love Is A Temporary

Saint Augustine

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Love Is A Temporary Madness. It Erupts Like An Earthquake And Then Subsides. And When It Subsides You Have To Make A Decision. You Have To Work Out Whether Your Roots Have Become So Entwined Together That It Is Inconceivable That You Should Ever Part. Because This Is What Love Is. Love Is Not Breathlessness, It Is Not Excitement, It Is Not The Promulgation Of Promises Of Eternal Passion. That Is Just Being In Love Which Any Of Us Can Convince Ourselves We Are. Love Itself Is What Is Left Over When Being In Love Has Burned Away, And This Is Both An Art And A Fortunate Accident.

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What Then, Is Correctness Of Speech But The Maintenance Of The Practice Of Others, As Established By The Authority Of Ancient Speakers? But The Weaker Men Are, The More They Are Troubled By Such Matters. Their Weakness Stems From A Desire To Appear Learned, Not With A Knowledge Of Things, By Which We Are Edified, But With A Knowledge Of Signs, By Which It Is Difficult Not To Be Puffed Up In Some Way; Even A Knowledge Of Things Often Makes People Boastful, Unless Their Necks Are Held Down By The Lord's Yoke.

It Is Easy To Want Things From The Lord And Yet Not Want The Lord Himself, As Though The Gift Could Ever Be Preferable To The Giver.

We Come To God By Love And Not By Navigation.

For If God Is Man's Chief Good, Which You Cannot Deny, It Clearly Follows, Since To Seek The Chief Good Is To Live Well, That To Live Well Is Nothing Else But To Love God With All The Heart, With All The Soul, With All The Mind.

Whoever Is Still Seeking For Miracles So That He May Believe Is Himself A Wonder, Who Does Not Believe While The World Around Him Does.

Why Is It That We Remember With Difficulty And Without Difficulty Forget? Learn With Difficulty And Without Difficulty Remain Ignorant?

Our Lord Reserved To Himself Certain Things Which He Would Do In Due Time In A Manner Outside The Course And Order Of Nature, So That They Would Wonder And Be Astonished At Seeing Not Great But Unusual Things, Who Are Unmoved By Things Daily Seen. For The Government Of The World Is A Greater Miracle Than Feeding Five Thousand Men From Five Loaves; Yet At The Former No One Wonders, The Latter Astonishes All Men: Not As A Greater Wonder, But As A Rarer.

The Mere Change Of Custom, Even Though It May Be Of Advantage In Some Respects, Unsettles Men By Reason Of The Novelty: Therefore, If It Brings No Advantage, It Does Much Harm By Unprofitably Disturbing The Church.

The Devil Often Transforms Himself Into An Angel To Tempt Men, Some For Their Instruction, Some For Their Ruin.

The Best Minds Are Not In Government. If Any Were, Business Would Steal Them Away. -ronald Reagan In The Absence Of Justice, What Is Sovereignty But Organized Robbery?

In Failing To Confess, Lord, I Would Only Hide You From Myself, Not Myself From You.

It Was Not The Visible Sun, But Its Invisible Creator Who Consecrated This Day For Us, When The Virgin Mother, Fertile Of Womb And Integral In Her Virginity, Brought Him Forth, Made Visible For Us, By Whom, When He Was Invisible, She Too Was Created. A Virgin Conceiving, A Virgin Bearing, A Virgin Pregnant, A Virgin Bringing Forth, A Virgin Perpetual. Why Do You Wonder At This, O Man?

What Can Be More Excellent Than Prayer; What Is More Profitable To Our Life; What Sweeter To Our Souls; What More Sublime, In The Course Of Our Whole Life, Than The Practice Of Prayer!

I Was In Misery, And Misery Is The State Of Every Soul Overcome By Friendship With Mortal Things And Lacerated When They Are Lost. Then The Soul Becomes Aware Of The Misery Which Is Its Actual Condition Even Before It Loses Them.

Woman Was Merely Man's Helpmate, A Function Which Pertains To Her Alone. She Is Not The Image Of God But As Far As Man Is Concerned, He Is By Himself The Image Of God.

No One Reaches The Kingdom Of Heaven Except By Humility

A Wanton Eye Is A Messenger Of An Unchaste Heart.

Late Have I Loved Thee, O Lord; And Behold, Thou Wast Within And I Without, And There I Sought Thee. Thou Was With Me When I Was Not With Thee. Thou Didst Call, And Cry, And Burst My Deafness. Thou Didst Gleam, And Glow, And Dispell My Blindness. Thou Didst Touch Me, And I Burned For Thy Peace. For Thyself Thou Hast Made Us, And Restless Our Hearts Until In Thee They Find Their Ease. Late Have I Loved Thee, Thou Beauty Ever Old And Ever New. Thou Hast Burst My Bonds Asunder; Unto Thee Will I Offer Up An Offering Of Praise.

Grace Alone Brings About Every Good Work In Us.

The Playthings Of Our Elders Are Called Business.

Lord Jesus, Don't Let Me Lie When I Say That I Love You.....and Protect Me, For Today I Could Betray You.

It Is No Advantage To Be Near The Light If The Eyes Are Closed.

Christ Held Himself In His Hands When He Gave His Body To His Disciples Saying: 'this Is My Body.' No One Partakes Of This Flesh Before He Has Adored It.

The Human Race Is Inquisitive About Other People's Lives, But Negligent To Correct Their Own.

Far Be It From Us To Doubt That All Number Is Known To Him 'whose Understanding Is Infinite' (ps. 147:5). The Infinity Of Number, Though There Be No Numbering Of Infinite Numbers, Is Yet Not Incomprehensible By Him Whose Understanding Is Infinite. And Thus, If Everything Which Is Comprehended Is Defined Or Made Finite By The Comprehension Of Him Who Knows It, Then All Infinity Is In Some Ineffable Way Made Finite To God, For It Is Comprehensible By His Knowledge.

What Thou Meanest By Seizing The Whole Earth; But Because I Do It With A Petty Ship, I Am Called A Robber, Whilst Thou Who Dost It With A Great Fleet Art Styled Emperor.

For Why, My Brothers And Sisters, Would You Rejoice In Silver? Either Your Silver Will Perish, Or You Will, And No One Knows Which Will Perish First. For Neither Can You Remain Here Always, Nor Can Silver Remain Here Always; So Also With Gold, Wardrobes, Houses, Money, Real Estate-and In The End, Even The Light By Which We Enjoy All These Things. So Do Not Be Willing Then To Rejoice In Such Things As These. Rejoice Instead In The Light That Has No Setting; Rejoice In The Dawn Which No Yesterday Precedes, And No Tomorrow Follows.

It Is Not The Punishment But The Cause That Makes The Martyr.

Take Care Of Your Body As If You Were Going To Live Forever; And Take Care Of Your Soul As If You Were Going To Die Tomorrow.

Patience Is The Companion Of Wisdom.

It Is Indeed Better (as No One Ever Could Deny) That Men Should Be Led To Worship God By Teaching, Than That They Should Be Driven To It By Fear Of Punishment Or Pain; But It Does Not Follow That Because The Former Course Produces The Better Men, Therefore Those Who Do Not Yield To It Should Be Neglected. For Many Have Found Advantage (as We Have Proved, And Are Daily Proving By Actual Experiment), In Being First Compelled By Fear Or Pain, So That They Might Afterwards Be Influenced By Teaching, Or Might Follow Out In Act What They Had Already Learned In Word.

I Inquired What Wickedness Is, And I Didn't Find A Substance, But A Perversity Of Will Twisted Away From The Highest Substance - You, O God - Towards Inferior Things, Rejecting Its Own Inner Life And Swelling With External Matters.

Go Forth On Your Path, As It Exists Only Through Your Walking.

This Very Moment I May, If I Desire, Become The Friend Of God.

All Diseases Of Christians Are To Be Ascribed To Demons; Chiefly Do They Torment Freshly-baptized Christians, Yea, Even The Guiltless New-born Infants.

The Greatest Evil Is Physical Pain.

The Customs Of God's People And The Institutions Of Our Ancestors Are To Be Considered As Laws. And Those Who Throw Contempt On The Customs Of The Church Ought To Be Punished As Those Who Disobey The Law Of God.

What Difference, If You Are Mistaken? For If I Am Mistaken, I Am. For He Who Is Not, Assuredly Cannot Be Mistaken; And Therefore I Am, If I Am Mistaken. Therefore Because I Am If I Am Mistaken, How Am I Mistaken That I Am, When It Is Sure That I Am, If I Am Mistaken.

Moreover, From The Time When He Said, 'except A Man Be Born Of Water And Of The Spirit, He Cannot Enter Into The Kingdom Of Heaven;' And Again, 'he That Loseth His Life For My Sake Shall Find It; ' No One Becomes A Member Of Christ Except It Be Either By Baptism In Christ, Or Death For Christ.

Every Day My Conscience Makes Confession Relying On The Hope Of Your Mercy As More To Be Trusted Than Its Own Innocence.

The Spiritual Virtue Of A Sacrament Is Like Light; Although It Passes Among The Impure, It Is Not Polluted.

If You Don't Believe It You Won't Understand It.

Hope Has Two Beautiful Daughters; Their Names Are Anger And Courage. Anger At The Way Things Are, And Courage To See That They Do Not Remain As They Are.

I Fell Away From You, My God, And I Went Astray, Too Far Astray From You, The Support Of My Youth, And I Became To Myself A Land Of Want.

To Wisdom Belongs The Intellectual Apprehension Of Eternal Things; To Knowledge, The Rational Knowledge Of Temporal Things.

On The Altar You Are Looking At The Same Thing As You Saw There Last Night. You Have Not Heard, However, What This Is, What It Signifies, Or About The Greatness Of The Reality Of Which It Is A Sacrament. Your Eyes Are Looking At Bread And Cup. This Is The Evidence Before Your Physical Sight. But Your Faith Must Be Instructed Concerning It- This Bread Being Christ 's Body And The Cup Containing His Blood. Though Perhaps These Words May Be Enough To Initiate Faith, Faith Must Be Further Instructed In Accordance With The Prophet's Words: 'believe That You May Understand'

I Believe In Order To Understand

For What Am I To Myself Without You, But A Guide To My Own Downfall?

Between Urine And Filth We Are Born.

Lord, Teach Me To Know You, And To Know Myself.

Believe That Others Are Better Than You In The Debths Of Their Soul, Although Outwardly You May Appear Better Than They.

Why Then Be Perverted And Follow Thy Flesh? Be It Converted And Follow Thee.

And He Departed From Our Sight That We Might Return To Our Hearts And Find Him There. For He Left Us, And Behold, He Is Here.

Humility Is The Foundation Of All The Other Virtues Hence, In The Soul In Which This Virtue Does Not Exist There Cannot Be Any Other Virtue Except In Mere Appearance.

The Love Of Our Neighbor Hath Its Bounds In Each Man's Love Of Himself.

Give What You Command And Command What You Will.

He Who Loves The Coming Of The Lord Is Not He Who Affirms That It Is Far Off, Nor Is It He Who Says It Is Near, But Rather He Who, Whether It Be Far Off Or Near, Awaits It With Sincere Faith, Steadfast Hope, And Fervent Love.

Near Our Vineyard There Was A Pear Tree Laden With Fruit That Was Not Attractive In Either Flavor Or Form. One Night, When I [at The Age Of Sixteen] Had Played Until Dark On The Sandlot With Some Other Juvenile Delinquents, We Went To Shake That Tree And Carry Off Its Fruit. From It We Carried Off Huge Loads, Not To Feast On, But To Throw To The Pigs, Although We Did Eat A Few Ourselves. We Did It Just Because It Was Forbidden.

Whoever Seems To Himself To Have Understood The Scriptures In Such A Way That He Does Not Build Up That Double Love Of God And Neighbor Has Not Yet Understood.

God Is Best Known In Not Knowing Him.

God Is More Truly Imagined Than Expressed, And He Exists More Truly Than He Is Imagined.

The Argument Is At An End.

He Who Thinks He Lives Without Sin Puts Aside Not Sin, But Pardon.

Remember This. When People Choose To Withdraw Far From A Fire, The Fire Continues To Give Warmth, But They Grow Cold. When People Choose To Withdraw Far From Light, The Light Continues To Be Bright In Itself But They Are In Darkness. This Is Also The Case When People Withdraw From God.

God Will Cleanse Your Sins If You Yourself Are Dissatisfied With Yourself And Will Keep On Changing Until You Are Perfect.

All Truth And Understanding Is A Result Of A Divine Light Which Is God Himself.

Where Scripture Speaks Of The World's Creation, It Is Not Plainly Said Whether Or When The Angels Were Created; But If Mention Is Made, It Is Implicit Under The Name Of "heaven," When It Is Said, "in The Beginning God Created The Heavens And The Earth."

He That Is Jealous Is Not In Love.

The Head And The Body Are Christ Wholly And Entirely. The Head Is The Only Begotten Son Of God, The Body Is His Church; The Bridegroom And The Bride, Two In One Flesh. All Who Dissent From The Scriptures Concerning Christ, Although They May Be Found In All Places In Which The Church Is Found, Are Not In The Church; And Again All Those Who Agree With The Scriptures Concerning The Head, And Do Not Communicate In The Unity Of The Church, Are Not In The Church.

So You See How Endlessly Futile And Fruitless It Would Be If We Wanted To Refute Their Objections Every Time They Obstinately Resolved Not To Think Through What They Say But Merely To Speak, Just So Long As They Contradict Our Arguments In Any Way They Can.

If You Should Ask Me What Are The Ways Of God, I Would Tell You That The First Is Humility, The Second Is Humility, And The Third Is Humility. Not That There Are No Other Precepts To Give, But If Humility Does Not Preceed All That We Do, Our Efforts Are Fruitless.

Carnal Lust Rules Where There Is No Love Of God.

If You Lose Your Soul, There Is A Danger Of Its Being Destroyed. Therefore, You May Not Love It, Since You Do Not Want It To Be Destroyed. But In Not Wanting It To Be Destroyed, You Love It.

If By Fate Anyone Means The Will Or Power Of God, Let Him Keep His Meaning But Mend His Language; For Fate Commonly Means A Necessary Process Which Will Have Its Way Apart From The Will Of God And Men.

The Kingdom Of Heaven, O Man, Requires No Other Price Than Yourself. The Value Of It Is Yourself. Give Yourself For It And You Shall Have It.

The Same Thing Which Is Now Called Christian Religion Existed Among The Ancients. They Have Begun To Call 'christian' The True Religion Which Existed Before.

Habit, If Not Resisted, Soon Becomes Necessity.

Indifferent Acts Are Judged By Their Ends Sins Are Judged By Themselves.

And So, Lastly, Does The Very Name Of "catholic", Which, Not Without Reason, Amid So Many Heresies, The Church Has Thus Retained; So That, Though All Heretics Wish To Be Called Catholics, Yet When A Stranger Asks Where The Catholic Church Meets, No Heretic Will Venture To Point To His Own Chapel Or House.

It Is This One Spirit Who Makes It Possible For An Infant To Be Regenerated . . . When That Infant Is Brought To Baptism; And It Is Through This One Spirit That The Infant So Presented Is Reborn. For It Is Not Written, 'unless A Man Be Born Again By The Will Of His Parents' Or 'by The Faith Of Those Presenting Him Or Ministering To Him,' But, 'unless A Man Be Born Again Of Water And The Holy Spirit.' The Water, Therefore, Manifesting Exteriorly The Sacrament Of Grace, And The Spirit Effecting Interiorly The Benefit Of Grace, Both Regenerate In One Christ That Man Who Was Generated In Adam.

Of This I Am Certain, That No One Has Ever Died Who Was Not Destined To Die Some Time. Now The End Of Life Puts The Longest Life On A Par With The Shortest... And Of What Consequence Is It What Kind Of Death Puts An End To Life, Since He Who Has Died Once Is Not Forced To Go Through The Same Ordeal A Second Time? They, Then, Who Are Destined To Die, Need Not Be Careful To Inquire What Death They Are To Die, But Into What Place Death Will Usher Them.

Oh, Beauty, Ever Ancient And Ever New.

For A Sentence Is Not Complete Unless Each Word, Once Its Syllables Have Been Pronounced, Gives Way To Make Room For The Next...they Are Set Up On The Course Of Their Existence, And The Faster They Climb Towards Its Zenith, The More They Hasten Towards The Point Where They Exist No More.

Modo, Et Modo, Non Habebent Modum. By-and-by Has No End.

Try As They May To Savor The Taste Of Eternity, Their Thoughts Still Twist And Turn Upon The Ebb And Flow Of Things In Past And Future Time. But If Only Their Minds Could Be Seized And Held Steady, They Would Be Still For A While And, For That Short Moment, They Would Glimse The Splendor Of Eternity, Which Is Forever Still.

Dilige Et Quod Vis Fac. (love And Then What You Will, Do.)

God Provides The Wind, Man Must Raise The Sail.

The Way To Christ Is First Through Humility, Second Through Humility, And Third Through Humility. If Humility Does Not Precede And Accompany And Follow Every Good Work We Do, If It Is Not Before Us To Focus On, It It Is Not Beside Us To Lean Upon, If It Is Not Behind Us To Fence Us In, Pride Will Wrench From Our Hand Any Good Deed We Do At The Very Moment We Do It.

You Called And Shouted And Burst My Deafness. You Flashed, Shone, And Scattered My Blindness. You Breathed Odors, And I Drew In Breath And Panted For You. I Tasted, And I Hunger And Thirst. You Touched Me, And I Burned For Your Peace.

Hunger And Thirst

Symbols Are Powerful Because They Are The Visible Signs Of Invisible Realities.

If Bodies Please Thee, Praise God On Occasion Of Them, And Turn Back Thy Love Upon Their Maker; Lest In These Things Which Please Thee, Thou Displease. If Souls Please Thee, Be They Loved In God: For They Too Are Mutable, But In Him They Are Firmly Established.

God Will Not Suffer Man To Have A Knowledge Of Things To Come For If He Had Prescience Of His Prosperity, He Would Be Careless And If Understanding Of His Adversity, He Would Be Despairing And Senseless

Therefore Once For All This Short Command Is Given To You. 'love And Do What You Will.' If You Keep Silent, Keep Silent By Love; If You Speak, Speak By Love; If You Correct, Correct By Love; If You Pardon, Pardon By Love: Let Love Be Rooted In You, And From The Root Nothing But Good Can Grow.

Cyprian Was Not Issuing A New Decree But Was Keeping To The Most Solid Belief Of The Church In Order To Correct Some Who Thought That Infants Ought Not Be Baptized Before The Eighth Day After Their Birth. . . . He Agreed With Certain Of His Fellow Bishops That A Child Is Able To Be Duly Baptized As Soon As He Is Born.

The Reward Of Patience Is Patience.

You Never Go Away From Us, Yet We Have Difficulty In Returning To You. Come, Lord, Stir Us Up And Call Us Back. Kindle And Seize Us. Be Our Fire And Our Sweetness. Let Us Love. Let Us Run.

How Can The Past And Future Be, When The Past No Longer Is, And The Future Is Not Yet? As For The Present, If It Were Always Present And Never Moved On To Become The Past, It Would Not Be Time, But Eternity.

Divine Scripture Is Wont To Frame, As It Were, Allurements For Children From The Things Which Are Found In The Creature; Whereby, According To Their Measure, And As It Were By Steps, The Affections Of The Weak May Be Moved To Seek Those Things That Are Above, And To Leave Those Things That Are Below. But The Same Scripture Rarely Employs Those Things Which Are Spoken Properly Of God, And Are Not Found In Any Creature; As, For Instance, That Which Was Said To Moses, I Am That I Am; And, I Am Has Sent Me To You."

Without God, We Cannot. Without Us, God Will Not.

Christian Inspirational

Put No Faith In Salvation Through The Political Order.

Peace Is Not Sought In Order To Provoke War, But War Is Waged In Order To Attain Peace.

Slavery Is Not Penal In Character And Planned By That Law Which Commands The Preservation Of The Natural Order And Forbids Disturbance.

A Man May Lose The Good Things Of This Life Against His Will; But If He Loses The Eternal Blessings, He Does So With His Own Consent.

When All Is Said And Done, Is There Any More Wonderful Sight, Any Moment When Man's Reason Is Nearer To Some Sort Of Contact With The Nature Of The World Than The Sowing Of Seeds, The Planting Of Cuttings, The Transplanting Of Shrubs Or The Grafting Of Slips?

No One Knows What He Himself Is Made Of, Except His Own Spirit Within Him, Yet There Is Still Some Part Of Him Which Remains Hidden Even From His Own Spirit; But You, Lord, Know Everything About A Human Being Because You Have Made Him...let Me, Then, Confess What I Know About Myself, And Confess Too What I Do Not Know, Because What I Know Of Myself I Know Only Because You Shed Light On Me, And What I Do Not Know I Shall Remain Ignorant About Until My Darkness Becomes Like Bright Noon Before Your Face.

Passion Is The Evil In Adultery. If A Man Has No Opportunity Of Living With Another Man's Wife, But If It Is Obvious For Some Reason That He Would Like To Do So, And Would Do So If He Could, He Is No Less Guilty Than If He Was Caught In The Act.

If The Future And The Past Really Exist, Where Are They?

For Great Are You, Lord, And You Look Kindly On What Is Humble, But The Lofty-minded You Regard From Afar. Only To Those Whose Hearts Are Crushed Do You Draw Close. You Will Not Let Yourself Be Found By The Proud, Nor Even By Those Who In Their Inquisitive Skill Count Stars Or Grains Of Sand, Or Measure The Expanses Of Heaven, Or Trace The Paths Of The Planets.

Keep On Adding, Keep On Walking, Keep On Progressing: Do Not Delay On The Road, Do Not Go Back, Do Not Deviate.

Mary Heard God's Word And Kept It, And So She Is Blessed. She Kept God's Truth In Her Mind, A Nobler Thing Than Carrying His Body In Her Womb.

The Entire Most Beautiful Order Of Things That Are Very Good, When Their Measures Have Been Accomplished, Is To Pass Away.

Without God, Man Cannot, And Without Man, God Will Not.

Nothing Whatever Pertaining To Godliness And Real Holiness Can Be Accomplished Without Grace .

God Judged It Better To Bring Good Out Of Evil Than To Suffer No Evil To Exist.

I Learned Most, Not From Those Who Taught Me But From Those Who Talked With Me.

Men Go Forth To Wonder At The Height Of Mountains, The Huge Waves Of The Sea, The Broad Flow Of The Ocean, The Course Of The Stars-and Forget To Wonder At Themselves. Beware Of Despairing About Yourself: You Are Commanded To Put Your Trust In God, And Not In Yourself.

When We Read A Book, Our Most Essential Trait - Imagination - Is Given The Opportunity To Soar.

What Do I Love When I Love My God?

Do You Wish To Rise? Begin By Descending.

We Take For Granted The Slow Miracle Whereby Water In The Irrigation Of A Vineyard Becomes Wine. It Is Only When Christ Turns Water Into Wine, In A Quick Motion, As It Were, That We Stand Amazed.

It Is The Function Of Perfection To Make One Know One's Imperfection.

Two Cities Have Been Formed By Two Loves: The Earthly By The Love Of Self; The Heavenly By The Love Of God.

Sin Is To A Nature What Blindness Is To An Eye. The Blindness Of An Evil Or Defect Which Is A Witness To The Fact That The Eye Was Created To See The Light And, Hence, The Very Lack Of Sight Is The Proof That The Eye Was Meant... To Be The One Particularly Capable Of Seeing The Light. Were It Not For This Capacity, There Would Be No Reason To Think Of Blindness As A Misforture.

Love Is The Beauty Of The Soul.

It Was Pride That Changed Angels Into Devils; It Is Humility That Makes Men As Angels.

In What Is Necessary, Unity; In What Is Not Necessary, Liberty And In All Things Charity.

God In His Omnipotence Could Not Give More, In His Wisdom He Knew Not How To Give More, In His Riches He Had Not More To Give, Than The Eucharist.

Late Have I Loved You, O Beauty Ever Ancient And Ever New! Late Have I Loved You! And, Behold, You Were Within Me, And I Out Of Myself, And There I Searched For You.

In All Trouble You Should Seek God. You Should Not Set Him Over Against Your Troubles, But Within Them. God Can Only Relieve Your Troubles If You In Your Anxiety Cling To Him. Trouble Should Not Really Be Thought Of As This Thing Or That In Particular, For Our Whole Life On Earth Involves Trouble; And Through The Troubles Of Our Earthly Pilgrimage We Find God.

Forgiveness Is The Remission Of Sins. For It Is By This That What Has Been Lost, And Was Found, Is Saved From Being Lost Again.

Why Persist In Walking Difficult And Toilsome Paths? There Is No Repose Where You Are Seeking It. Search As You Like, It Is Not Where You Are Looking. You Are Seeking A Happy Life In The Realm Of Death, And It Will Not Be Found There. How Could Life Be Happy Where There Is No Life At All?

Every Infinity... Is Made Finite To God.

Because God Has Made Us For Himself, Our Hearts Are Restless Until They Rest In Him.

Eternity Is The Now That Does Not Pass Away.

He Who Commends The Nature Of The Soul As The Supreme Good, And Condemns The Nature Of The Flesh As Evil, At Once Both Carnally Desires The Soul, And Carnally Flies The Flesh, Because He Feels Thus From Human Vanity, Not From Divine Truth.

For A Sentence Is Not Complete Unless Each Word, Once Its Syllables Have Been Pronounced, Gives Way To Make Room For The Next.

Ninety Percent Of The Time Things Turn Out Worse Than You Thought They Would. The Other Ten Percent Of The Time You Had No Right To Expect That Much.

God Loves Each Of Us As If There Were Only One Of Us.

Though He Avoided Outright Endorsement Of The View, Fifth-century Church Father Saint Augustine Was Clearly Familiar With The Theory Of The Spherical Earth: "they [those Who Believe That "there Are Men On The Other Side Of The Earth"] Fail To Observe That Even If The World Is Held To Be Global Or Rounded In Shape, Or If Some Process Of Reasoning Should Prove This To Be The Case, It Would Still Not Necessarily Follow That The Land On The Opposite Side Is Not Covered By Masses Of Water."

While The Best Men Are Guided By Love, Most Mean Are Still Goaded By Fear.

Lust Indulged Became Habit, And Habit Unresisted Became Necessity.

Purity And Love

Unhappy Is The Soul Enslaved By The Love Of Anything That Is Mortal.

Let Those Who Think I Have Said Too Little And Those Who Think I Have Said Too Much, Forgive Me; And Let Those Who Think I Have Said Just Enough Thank God With Me.

It Seems To Me That An Unjust Law Is No Law At All.

Moral Responsibility

It Will Not Be Held Against You That You Are Ignorant Against Your Will, But That You Neglect To Seek Out What It Is That Makes You Ignorant; Not That You Cannot Bring Together Your Wounded Limbs, But That You Reject Him That Would Heal Them.

If But For The Mercy Of My Lord, That My Paradise Becomes A Woman's Hell.

In The Usual Course Of Study I Had Come To A Book Of A Certain Cicero.

God Has Promised Forgiveness To Your Repentance, But He Has Not Promised Tomorrow To Your Procrastination.

Procrastination

Your Best Servant Is The Person Who Does Not Attend So Much To Hearing What He Himself Wants As To Willing What He Has Heard From You.

Will Is To Grace As The Horse Is To The Rider.

The Weakness Of Little Children's Limbs Is Innocent, Not Their Souls.

Love All Men, Even Your Enemies; Love Them, Not Because They Are Your Brothers, But That They May Become Your Brothers. Thus You Will Ever Burn With Fraternal Love, Both For Him Who Is Already Your Brother And For Your Enemy, That He May By Loving Become Your Brother.

Often A Non-christian Knows Something About The Earth, The Heavens, And The Other Parts Of The World, About The Motions And Orbits Of The Stars And Even Their Sizes And Distances... And This Knowledge He Holds With Certainty From Reason And Experience. It Is Thus Offensive And Disgraceful For An Unbeliever To Hear A Christian Talk Nonsense About Such Things, Claiming That What He Is Saying Is Based In Scripture. We Should Do All That We Can To Avoid Such An Embarrassing Situation, Which People See As Ignorance In The Christian And Laugh To Scorn.

My Mother Spoke Of Christ To My Father, By Her Feminine And Childlike Virtues, And, After Having Borne His Violence Without A Murmur Or Complaint, Gained Him At The Close Of His Life To Christ.

Sin Is Energy In The Wrong Channel.

Blessedness Consists In The Accomplishment Of Our Desires, And In Our Having Only Regular Desires.

When I Am Completely United To You, There Will Be No More Sorrow Or Trials; Entirely Full Of You, My Life Will Be Complete.

The Soul, Which Is Spirit, Can Not Dwell In Dust; It Is Carried Along To Dwell In The Blood.

Love, And He Will Draw Near; Love, And He Will Dwell Within You.

Love And Say It With Your Life.

He Who Labours, Prays.

So Give To The Poor; I'm Begging You, I'm Warning You, I'm Commanding You, I'm Ordering You.

I Was Not Yet In Love, Yet I Loved To Love...i Sought What I Might Love, In Love With Loving.

Moral Character Is Assessed Not By What A Man Knows But By What He Loves

It Is Not With Respect To Our Convenience Or Discomfort, But With Respect To Their Own Nature That The Creatures Are Glorifying To Their Artificer.

Hear, O God. Alas, For Man's Sin! So Saith Man, And Thou Pitiest Him; For Thou Madest Him, But Sin Is In Him Thou Madest Not. Who Remindeth Me Of The Sins Of My Infancy? For In Thy Sight None Is Pure From Sin, Not Even The Infant Whose Life Is But A Day Upon The Earth.

Education Is The Food Of Youth, The Delight Of Old Age, The Ornament Of Prosperity, The Refuge And Comfort Of Adversity, And The Provocation To Grace In The Soul.

What Art Thou Then, My God? What, But The Lord God? For Who Is Lord But The Lord? Or Who Is God Save Our God? Most Highest, Most Good, Most Potent, Most Omnipotent; Most Merciful, Yet Most Just; Most Hidden, Yet Most Present; Most Beautiful, Yet Most Strong; Stable, Yet Incomprehensible; Unchangeable, Yet All-changing; Never New, Never Old; All-renewing, And Bringing Age Upon The Proud, And They Know It Not; Ever Working, Ever At Rest; Still Gathering, Yet Nothing Lacking; Supporting, Filling, And Overspreading; Creating, Nourishing, And Maturing; Seeking, Yet Having All Things.

Don't Hold Yourselves Cheap, Seeing That The Creator Of All Things And Of You Estimates Your Value So High, So Dear, That He Pours Out For You Every Day The Most Precious Blood Of His Only-begotten Son.

I Became Evil For No Reason. I Had No Motive For My Wickedness Except Wickedness Itself. It Was Foul, And I Loved It. I Loved The Self-destruction, I Loved My Fall, Not The Object For Which I Had Fallen But My Fall Itself. My Depraved Soul Leaped Down From Your Firmament To Ruin. I Was Seeking Not To Gain Anything By Shameful Means, But Shame For Its Own Sake.

People Travel To Marvel At The Mountains, Seas, Rivers And Stars And They Pass Right By Themselves Without Astonishment.

The Heavenly City Outshines Rome Beyond Comparison. There, Instead Of Victory, Is Truth; Instead Of High Rank, Holiness; Instead Of Peace, Felicity; Instead Of Life, Eternity.

It Is Human To Err, But It Is Devilish To Remain Willfully In Error.

And How Shall I Call Upon My God, My God And Lord, Since, When I Call For Him, I Shall Be Calling Him To Myself? And What Room Is There Within Me, Whither My God Can Come Into Me? Whither Can God Come Into Me, God Who Made Heaven And Earth? Is There, Indeed, O Lord My God, Aught In Me That Can Contain Thee?

It Is Not In Virtue Of Its Liberty That The Human Will Attains To Grace, It Is Much Rather By Grace That It Attains To Liberty.

And I Entered And Beheld With The Eye Of My Soul... The Light Unchangeable... He That Knows The Truth, Knows What That Light Is; And He That Knows It, Knows Eternity.

Teach Correctly... Find Delight In Contemplation.

Who Can Map Out The Various Forces At Play In One Soul? Man Is A Great Depth, O Lord. The Hairs Of His Head Are Easier By Far To Count Than His Feeling, The Movements Of His Heart.

Such Is The Strength Of The Burden Of Habit. Here I Have The Power To Be But Do Not Wish It. There I Wish To Be But Lacks The Power. On Both Grounds, I'm In Misery.

You Aspire To Great Things? Begin With The Little Ones.

Wonderful Is The Depth Of Thy Words, Whose Surface Is Before Us, Gently Leading On The Little Ones: And Yet A Wonderful Deepness, O My God, A Wonderful Deepness. It Is Awe To Look Into It; Even An Awfulness Of Honour, And A Trembling Of Love.

The Greatest Kindness One Can Render To Any Man Is Leading Him To Truth.

Do You Wish To Be Great? Then Begin By Being Little. Do You Desire To Construct A Vast And Lofty Fabric? Think First About The Foundations Of Humility. The Higher Your Structure Is To Be, The Deeper Must Be Its Foundation. Modest Humility Is Beauty's Crown.

The Desire Is Thy Prayers; And If Thy Desire Is Without Ceasing, Thy Prayer Will Also Be Without Ceasing. The Continuance Of Your Longing Is The Continuance Of Your Prayer.

Free Curiosity Has Greater Power To Stimulate Learning Than Rigorous Coercion. Nevertheless, The Free Ranging Flux Of Curiosity Is Channeled By Discipline Under Your Law.

There Is No Salvation Outside The Church.

You Wish To Be Great, Begin From The Least. You Are Thinking To Construct Some Mighty Fabric In Height; First Think Of The Foundation Of Humility. And How Great Soever A Mass Of Building One May Wish And Design To Place Above It, The Greater The Building Is To Be, The Deeper Does He Dig His Foundation.

To Abstain From Sin When One Can No Longer Sin Is To Be Forsaken By Sin, Not To Forsake It.

Beware Of Despairing About Yourself: You Are Commanded To Put Your Trust In God, And Not In Yourself.

In No Passage Of The Holy Canonical Books There Can Be Found Either Divine Precept Or Permission To Take Away Our Own Life, Whether For The Sake Of Entering On The Enjoyment Of Immortality, Or Of Shunning, Or Ridding Ourselves Of Anything Whatever. Nay, The Law, Rightly Interpreted, Even Prohibits Suicide, Where It Says, 'thou Shalt Not Kill.' This Is Proved Especially By The Omission Of The Words "thy Neighbor," Which Are Inserted When False Witness Is Forbidden.

Peace In Society Depends Upon Peace In The Family.

If God Seems Slow In Responding, It Is Because He Is Preparing A Better Gift. He Will Not Deny Us. God Withholds What You Are Not Yet Ready For. He Wants You To Have A Lively Desire For His Greatest Gifts. All Of Which Is To Say, Pray Always And Do Not Lose Heart.

We Enjoy Some Gratification When Our Good Friends Die; For Though Their Death Leaves Us In Sorrow, We Have The Consolatory Assurance That They Are Beyond The Ills By Which In This Life Even The Best Of People Are Broken Down Or Corrupted.

The World's Verdict Is Conclusive.

I Once Laboured Hard For The Free Will Of Man, Until The Grace Of God At Length Overcame Me.

The Will Is Truly Free, When It Is Not The Slave Of Vices And Sins.

Even In Waging War, Cherish The Spirit Of Peace-maker; That, By Conquering Those Whom You Attack, You May Lead Them Back To The Advantages Of Peace.

I Have Read In Plato And Cicero Sayings That Are Wise And Very Beautiful; But I Have Never Read In Either Of Them: Come Unto Me All Ye That Labor And Are Heavy Laden.

Not All, Nor Even A Majority, Are Saved. . . They Are Indeed Many, If Regarded By Themselves, But They Are Few In Comparison With The Far Larger Number Of Those Who Shall Be Punished With The Devil.

We Both Exist And Know That We Exist, And Rejoice In This Knowledge.

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