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O Eternal Truth And True Love And Beloved Eternity! You Are My God; To You I Sigh By Day And By Night. And When I First Knew You, You Raised Me Up So That I Could See That There Was Something To See And That I Still Lacked The Ability To See It. And You Beat Back The Weakness Of My Sight, Blazing Upon Me With Your Rays, And I Trembled In Love And In Dread.

-Saint Augustine

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O Eternal Truth And

Saint Augustine

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O Eternal Truth And True Love And Beloved Eternity! You Are My God; To You I Sigh By Day And By Night. And When I First Knew You, You Raised Me Up So That I Could See That There Was Something To See And That I Still Lacked The Ability To See It. And You Beat Back The Weakness Of My Sight, Blazing Upon Me With Your Rays, And I Trembled In Love And In Dread.

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

We Were Ensnared By The Wisdom Of The Serpent; We Are Set Free By The Foolishness Of God .

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.

Nobody Should Ever Doubt That In The Washing Of Rebirth (titus 3:5) Absolutely All Sins, From The Least To The Greatest, Are Altogether Forgiven.

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

Christian Inspirational

To My God A Heart Of Flame; To My Fellow Man A Heart Of Love; To Myself A Heart Of Steel.

O Lord, Grant That I May Do Thy Will As If It Were My Will, So That Thou Mayest Do My Will As If It Were Thy Will.

The True Religion Has Always Been One From The Beginning, And Will Always Be The Same.

When Regard For Truth Has Been Broken Down Or Even Slightly Weakened, All Things Will Remain Doubtful.

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.

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

A Marriage Without Children Is The World Without The Sun.

We Who Preach And Write, Do So In A Manner Different From Which The Scriptures Have Been Written. We Write While We Make Progress.we Learn Something New Every Day. We Speak As We Still Knock For Understanding...if Anyone Criticizes Me When I Have Said What Is Right, He Does Me An Injustice. But I Would Be More Angry With The One Who Praises Me And Takes What I Have Written For Gospel Truth Than I Would Be With The One Who Criticizes Me Unfairly.

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.

Remove Justice, And What Are Kingdoms But Gangs Of Criminals On A Large Scale?... A Gang Is A Group Of Men... In Which The Plunder Is Divided According To An Agreed Convention. If This Villainy... Acquires Territory, Establishes A Base, Captures Cities And Subdues People, It Then Openly Arrogates To Itself The Title Of Kingdom.

Man's Maker Was Made Man That He, Ruler Of The Stars, Might Nurse At His Mother's Breast; That The Bread Might Hunger, The Fountain Thirst, The Light Sleep, The Way Be Tired On Its Journey; That Truth Might Be Accused Of False Witnesses, The Teacher Be Beaten With Whips, The Foundation Be Suspended On Wood; That Strength Might Grow Weak; That The Healer Might Be Wounded; That Life Might Die.

The Angels Surround And Help The Priest When He Is Celebrating Mass.

Once For All, Then, A Short Precept Is Given Thee: Love, And Do What Thou Wilt: Whether Thou Hold Thy Peace, Through Love Hold Thy Peace; Whether Thou Cry Out, Through Love Cry Out; Whether Thou Correct, Through Love Correct; Whether Thou Spare, Through Love Do Thou Spare: Let The Root Of Love Be Within, Of This Root Can Nothing Spring But What Is Good.

God Provides The Wind, Man Must Raise The Sail.

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.

I Too Have Sworn Heedlessly And All The Time, I Have Had This Most Repulsive And Death-dealing Habit. I'm Telling Your Graces; From The Moment I Began To Serve God , And Saw What Evil There Is In Forswearing Oneself, I Grew Very Afraid Indeed, And Out Of Fear I Applied The Brakes To This Old, Old, Habit.

In The Catholic Church, There Are Many Other Things Which Most Justly Keep Me In Her Bosom. The Consent Of Peoples And Nations Keeps Me In The Church; So Does Her Authority, Inaugurated By Miracles, Nourished By Hope, Enlarged By Love, Established By Age. The Succession Of Priests Keeps Me, Beginning From The Very Seat Of The Apostle Peter, To Whom The Lord, After His Resurrection, Gave It In Charge To Feed His Sheep (jn 21:15-19), Down To The Present Episcopate.

Your First Task Is To Be Dissatisfied With Yourself, Fight Sin, And Transform Yourself Into Something Better. Your Second Task Is To Put Up With The Trials And Temptations Of This World That Will Be Brought On By The Change In Your Life And To Persevere To The Very End In The Midst Of These Things.

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.

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.

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.

Narrow Is The Mansion Of My Soul; Enlarge Thou It, That Thou Mayest Enter In. It Is Ruinous; Repair Thou It. It Has That Within Which Must Offend Thine Eyes; I Confess And Know It. But Who Shall Cleanse It? Or To Whom Should I Cry, Save Thee? Lord, Cleanse Me From My Secret Faults, And Spare Thy Servant From The Power Of The Enemy. I Believe, And Therefore Do I Speak.

I Did Not Find You Outside, O Lord, Because I Made The Mistake Of Seeking Outside You Who Were Within

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."

We Count On God's Mercy For Our Past Mistakes, On God's Love For Our Present Needs, On God's Sovereignty For Our Future.

Whoever Possesses God Is Happy.

Truth Is Not Private Property.

Private Property

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

Humility Is First, Second And Third In Christianity.

What Is Held By The Whole Church, And That Not As Instituted By Councils, But As A Matter Of Invariable Custom, Is Rightly Held To Have Been Handed Down By Authority.

O That Men Would Know Themselves To Be Men; And That He That Glorieth Would Glory In The Lord.

I Entered (into My Inward Self) And Beheld With The Eye Of My Soul...the Light Unchangeable.

In Doing What We Ought We Deserve No Praise, Because It Is Our Duty.

We Make Ourselves A Ladder Out Of Our Vices If We Trample The Vices Themselves Underfoot.

Bad Times, Hard Times, This Is What People Keep Saying; But Let Us Live Well, And Times Shall Be Good. We Are The Times: Such As We Are, Such Are The Times.

I Have Learnt To Love You Late, Beauty At Once So Ancient And So New!

For You [god] Are Infinite And Never Change. In You "today" Never Comes To An End: And Yet Our "today" Does Come To An End In You, Because Time, As Well As Everything Else, Exists In You. If It Did Not, It Would Have No Means Of Passing. And Since Your Years Never Come To An End, For You They Are Simply "today."

I Have Said Before, And I Shall Say Again, That I Write This Book For Love Of Your Love.

A Very Weighty Argument Is This Namely, That Neither Does The Light Which Descends From Thence, Chiefly Upon The World , Mix Itself With Anything, Nor Admit Of Dirtiness Or Pollution, But Remains Entirely, And In All Things That Are, Free From Defilement, Admixture, And Suffering.

There Is No Greater Invitation To Love Than Loving First.

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

No Man Has A Right To Lead Such A Life Of Contemplation As To Forget In His Own Ease The Service Due To His Neighbor.

Do Not Follow Any Road, But That Which Christ Trod. This Road Seems Hard, But It Is Safe.

Don't Go Outside; Get Back To Yourself, In The Inner Man Lies The Truth.

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

No One Indeed Believes Anything Unless He Has First Thought That It It To Be Believed.

If We Tread Our Vices Under Our Feet, We Make Of Them A Ladder By Which To Rise To Higher Things.

The Fellow Who Eggs You On To Avenge Yourself Will Rob You Of What You Were Going To Say - As We Forgive Our Debtors . When You Have Forfeited That, All Your Sins Will Be Held Against You; Absolutely Nothing Is Forgiven.

You Cannot Attain To Charity Except Through Humility.

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.

He Who Devoutly Hears Holy Mass Will Receive A Great Vigor To Enable Him To Resist Mortal Sin, And There Shall Be Pardoned To Him All Venial Sins Which He May Have Committed Up To That Hour.

There Never Can Have Been, And Never Can Be, And There Never Shall Be Any Sin Without Pride.

Grant What Thou Commandest, And Command What Thou Wilt.

No One Reaches The Kingdom Of Heaven Except By Humility

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.

If God Is, Why Is There Evil? But If God Is Not, Why Is There Good?

The Words Printed Here Are Concepts. You Must Go Through The Experiences.

Purity Of Soul Cannot Be Lost Without Consent.

One Loving Heart Sets Another On Fire.

Be Always Displeased With What You Are If You Wish To Be What You Are Not. Always Add, Always Walk, Always Proceed. Neither Stand Still Nor Go Back Nor Deviate.

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.

All Plenty Which Is Not My God Is Poverty To Me.

Overconsumption

To Sing Is To Pray Twice.

Classical Music

Where Love Is, What Can Be Wanting? Where It Is Not, What Can Possibly Be Profitable?

God Grants Us Not Always What We Ask So As To Bestow Something Preferable.

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

Cursed Is Everyone Who Places His Hope In Changing The Nature Of Man

God Almighty Would In No Way Permit Evil In His Works Were He Not So Omnipotent And Good That Even Out Of Evil He Could Work Good.

Alternate Translation: Come Brethren, If You Have A Mind To Be Ingrafted In The Vine, It Is A Pity To See You Lopped Off In This Manner From The Stock. Reckon Up The Prelates In The Very See Of Peter; And In That Order Of Fathers See Which Has Succeeded Which. This Is The Rock Over Which The Proud Gates Of Hell Prevail Not.

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

My Love Is My Weight. Because Of It, I Move.

... At The Beginning Of The Human Race The Woman Was Made Of A Rib Taken From The Side Of The Man While He Slept; For It Seemed Fit That Even Then Christ And His Church Should Be Foreshadowed In This Event. For That Sleep Of The Man Was The Death Of Christ, Whose Side, As He Hung Lifeless Upon The Cross, Was Pierced With A Spear, And There Flowed From It Blood And Water, And These We Know To Be The Sacraments By Which The Church Is Built Up.

A Thing Is Not Necessarily True Because Badly Uttered, Nor False Because Spoken Magnificently.

I Acknowledge Thee, Lord Of Heaven And Earth, And Praise Thee For My First Rudiments Of Being, And My Infancy, Whereof I Remember Nothing; For Thou Hast Appointed That Man Should From Others Guess Much As To Himself; And Believe Much On The Strength Of Weak Females.

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

Virginity Is Not Honored Simply Because It Is Virginity, But Because It Is Consecrated Of God.

For I Wondered That Others, Subject To Death, Did Live, Since He Whom I Loved, As If He Should Never Die, Was Dead; And I Wondered Yet More That Myself, Who Was To Him A Second Self, Could Live, He Being Dead. Well Said One Of His Friend, "thou Half Of My Soul"; For I Felt That My Soul And His Soul Were "one Soul In Two Bodies": And Therefore Was My Life A Horror To Me, Because I Would Not Live Halved. And Therefore Perchance I Feared To Die, Lest He Whom I Had Much Loved Should Die Wholly.

It Is Salutary For Us To Learn To Hold Cheap Such Things, Be They Good Or Evil, As Attach Indifferently To Good Men And Bad, And To Covet Those Good Things Which Belong Only To Good Men, And Flee Those Evils Which Belong Only To Evil Men.

Whatever Skills I Have Acquired, Whatever Gifts I Have Been Given, I Place Them At Your Service.

I Make Bold To Say That It Is Profitable For The Proud To Fall, In Order That They May Be Humbled In That For Which They Have Exalted Themselves.

Lord, Who Art Always The Same, Give That I Know Myself, Give That I Know Thee.

It Is Not Earthly Riches Which Make Us Or Our Sons Happy; For They Must Either Be Lost By Us In Our Lifetime, Or Be Possessed When We Are Dead, By Whom We Know Not, Or Perhaps By Whom We Would Not.

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.

The Verdict Of The World Is Conclusive.

Beauty Grows In You To The Extent That Love Grows, Because Charity Itself Is The Soul's Beauty.

Every Visible Thing In This World Is Put In The Charge Of An Angel.

Doubt Is But Another Element Of Faith.

The Flesh Does Not By Its Own Virtue Purify, But Is Purified By Virtue Of The Word By Which It Was Assumed, When 'the Word Became Flesh And Dwelt Among Us' (jn. 1:14).

The Entire Life Of A Good Christian Is In Fact An Exercise Of Holy Desire. You Do Not Yet See What You Long For, But The Very Act Of Desiring Prepares You, So That When He Comes You May See And Be Utterly Satisfied.

Complete Abstinence Is Easier Than Perfect Moderation.

Conscience And Reputation Are Two Things. Conscience Is Due To Yourself, Reputation To Your Neighbour.

The Law Detects, Grace Alone Conquers Sin.

Do What You Can And Pray For What You Cannot Yet Do.

I Asked The Whole Frame Of The World About My God; And He Answered, I Am Not He, But He Made Me.

Learn To Dance, So When You Get To Heaven The Angels Know What To Do With You.

No One Can Begin A New Life, Unless He Repent Of The Old.

For What Is Faith Unless It Is To Believe What You Do Not See?

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

Does God Proclaim Himself In The Wonders Of Creation? No. All Things Proclaim Him, All Things Speak. Their Beauty Is The Voice By Which They Announce God, By Which They Sing, "it Is You Who Made Me Beautiful, Not Me Myself But You.

Better To Have Fewer Wants Than Greater Riches To Supply Increasing Wants.

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

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.

He Who Created Us Without Our Help Will Not Save Us Without Our Consent.

Fasting Cleanses The Soul, Raises The Mind, Subjects One’s Flesh To The Spirit, Renders The Heart Contrite And Humble, Scatters The Clouds Of Concupiscence, Quenches The Fire Of Lust, And Kindles The True Light Of Chastity.

You (god) Have Not Only Commanded Continence, That Is, From What Things We Are To Restrain Our Love, But Also Justice, That Is, On What We Are To Bestow Our Love.

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

There Is No Health In Those Who Are Displeased By An Element In Your Creation, Just As There Was None In Me When I Was Displeased By Many Things You Had Made. Because My Soul Didn't Dare To Say That My God Displeased Me, It Refused To Attribute To You Whatever Was Displeasing.

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.

What Is More Insane Than To Be Partakers Of The Sacraments Of The Lord And Not Partakers Of The Words Of The Lord? These Men Truly Have To Say: "in Thy Name We Have Eaten And Drunk," And They Will Have To Hear: "i Do Not Know You!" (luke 13:26-27). They Eat And Drink His Body And Blood In The Sacrament And Do Not Recognize In The Gospel His Members Spread Over The Whole World, And For This Reason They Are Not Numbered Among Them At The Judgment.

God Of Our Life, There Are Days When The Burdens We Carry Chafe Our Shoulders And Weigh Us Down; When The Road Seems Dreary And Endless, The Skies Gray And Threatening; When Our Lives Have No Music In Them, And Our Hearts Are Lonely, And Our Souls Have Lost Their Courage. Flood The Path With Light, Run Our Eyes To Where The Skies Are Full Of Promise; Tune Our Hearts To Brave Music; Give Us The Sense Of Comradeship With Heroes And Saints Of Every Age; And So Quicken Our Spirits That We May Be Able To Encourage The Souls Of All Who Journey With Us On The Road Of Life, To Your Honor And Glory.

Don't Let Your Life Give Evidence Against Your Tongue. Sing With Your Voices... Sing Also With Your Conduct.

Longing Desire Prayeth Always, Though The Tongue Be Silent. If Thou Art Ever Longing, Thou Art Ever Praying.

We Made Bad Use Of Immortality, And So Ended Up Dying; Christ Made Good Use Of Mortality, So That We Might End Up Living.

Let Us Understand That God Is A Physician, And That Suffering Is A Medicine For Salvation, Not A Punishment For Damnation.

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.

Trust The Past To The Mercy Of God, The Present To His Love, And The Future To His Providence.

Custom Is Second Nature.

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.

Angels Are Spirits, But It Is Not Because They Are Spirits That They Are Angels. They Become Angels When They Are Sent. For The Name Angel Refers To Their Office, Not Their Nature. You Ask The Name Of This Nature, It Is Spirit; You Ask Its Office, It Is That Of An Angel, Which Is A Messenger.

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?

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.

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

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

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

When [men] Go To War, What They Want Is To Impose On Their Enemies The Victor's Will And Call It Peace.

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

For When God Said, "let There Be Light, And There Was Light," If We Are Justified In Understanding In This Light The Creation Of The Angels, Then Certainly They Were Created Partakers Of The Eternal Light Which Is The Unchangeable Wisdom Of God, By Which All Things Were Made, And Whom We Call The Only-begotten Son Of God.

That One Woman Is Both Mother And Virgin, Not In Spirit Only But Even In Body. In Spirit She Is Mother, Not Of Our Head, Who Is Our Savior Himself-of Whom All, Even She Herself, Are Rightly Called Children Of The Bridegroom-but Plainly She Is The Mother Of Us Who Are His Members, Because By Love She Has Cooperated So That The Faithful, Who Are The Members Of That Head, Might Be Born In The Church. In Body, Indeed, She Is The Mother Of That Very Head.

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

By Faithfulness We Are Collected And Wound Up Into Unity Within Ourselves, Whereas We Had Been Scattered Abroad In Multiplicity.

The Good Man, Though A Slave, Is Free; The Wicked, Though He Reigns, Is A Slave, And Not The Slave Of A Single Man, But- What Is Worse - The Slave Of As Many Masters As He Has Vices.

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

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.

Give Me Yourself, O My God, Give Yourself Back To Me. Lo, I Love You, But If My Love Is Too Mean, Let Me Love More Passionately. I Cannot Gauge My Love, Nor Know How Far It Fails, How Much More Love I Need For My Life To Set Its Course Straight Into Your Arms, Never Swerving Until Hidden In The Covert Of Your Face.

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.

Love Is Ever New Because It Never Groweth Old.

And I Will Ask The Father, And He Shall Give You Another Paraclete, Seeing He Saith This Of The Holy Spirit, Whom Except We Have, We Can Neither Love God, Nor Keep His Commandments?

The Heart Of Man Is Restless Until He Finds Rest In Thee.

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?

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

Desire Only God, And Your Heart Will Be Satisfied.

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.

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.

Our Life Is A Gymnasium Of Desire.... When Christians Say "god," What Do We Wish To Express? This Word Is All That We Yearn For."

I Will Plant My Feet On That Step Where My Parents Put Me As A Child, Until Self-evident Truth Comes To Light.

The Wicked Have Told Me Of Things That Delight Them, But Not Such Things As Your Law Has To Tell.

What Are Kingdoms Without Justice? They're Just Gangs Of Bandits.

Everyone Who Observes Himself Doubting Observes A Truth, And About That Which He Observes He Is Certain; Therefore He Is Certain About A Truth. Everyone Therefore Who Doubts Whether Truth Exists Has In Himself A Truth On Which Not To Doubt.... Hence One Who Can Doubt At All Ought Not To Doubt The Existence Of Truth.

Give What You Command And Command What You Will.

For, Were It Not Good That Evil Things Should Also Exist, The Omnipotent God Would Almost Certainly Not Allow Evil To Be, Since Beyond Doubt It Is Just As Easy For Him Not To Allow What He Does Not Will, As For Him To Do What He Will.

Lord, Thou Madest Us For Thyself, And We Can Find No Rest Till We Find Rest In Thee.

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.

If A Parricide Is More Wicked Than Anyone Who Commits Homicide-because He Kills Not Merely A Man But A Near Relative-without Doubt Worse Still Is He Who Kills Himself, Because There Is None Nearer To A Man Than Himself.

I Believe In Order To Understand

None Save Great Men Have Been The Authors Of Great Heresies.

What Does Love Look Like? It Has The Hands To Help Others. It Has The Feet To Hasten To The Poor And Needy. It Has Eyes To See Misery And Want. It Has The Ears To Hear The Sighs And Sorrows Of Men. That Is What Love Looks Like.

Can Any Praise Be Worthy Of The Lord's Majesty?

The Argument Is At An End.

Consequently, Heretics And Schismatics, Separated From The Unity Of This Body, Are Able To Receive The Same Sacrament, But With No Benefit To Themselves; Indeed, More To Their Own Harm, In That They Are Judged The More Severely Rather Than Being Liberated.

God Had One Son On Earth Without Sin, But Never One Without Suffering.

Punishment, That Is The Justice For The Unjust.

God Is Not A Deceiver, That He Should Offer To Support Us, And Then, When We Lean Upon Him, Should Slip Away From Us.

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

Often The Contempt Of Vainglory Becomes A Source Of Even More Vainglory, For It Is Not Being Scorned When The Contempt Is Something One Is Proud Of.

Although God Is All Powerful, He Is Unable To Give More; Though Supremely Wise, He Knows Not How To Give More; Though Vastly Rich, He Has Not More To Give.

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.

God Does Not Give Heed To The Ambitiousness Of Our Prayers, Because He Is Always Ready To Give To Us His Light, Not A Visible Light But An Intellectual And Spiritual One; But We Are Not Always Ready To Receive It When We Turn Aside And Down To Other Things Out Of A Desire For Temporal Things.

If We Did Not Have Rational Souls, We Would Not Be Able To Believe.

Father, I Am Seeking: I Am Hesitant And Uncertain, But Will You, O God, Watch Over Each Step Of Mine And Guide Me.

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.

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

When I Come To Be United To Thee With All My Being, Then There Will Be No More Pain And Toil For Me, And My Life Shall Be A Real Life, Being Wholly Filled By Thee.

I Do Not Doubt That All Those Who Have Received Baptism Anywhere And From Whomever Do Have Baptism, As Long As It Was Consecrated With The Words Of The Gospel And They Received It Without Pretence On Their Part And With Some Degree Of Faith. However, It Would Not Avail Them For Their Spiritual Salvation If They Were Lacking In That Charity By Which They Might Be Implanted In The Catholic Church.

Poetry Is The Devil's Wine.

Be Always Displeased At What Thou Art, If Thou Desirest To Attain To What Thou Art Not.

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.

There Is Nothing More Serious Than The Sacrilege Of Schism Because There Is No Just Cause For Severing The Unity Of The Church.

Make Friends With Angels.

The Sole Purpose Of Life Is To Gain Merit For Life In Eternity.

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.

By Means Of Corporal And Temporal Things We May Comprehend The Eternal And The Spiritual.

Did My Infancy Succeed Another Age Of Mine That Dies Before It? Was It That Which I Spent Within My Mother's Womb?... And What Before That Life Again, O God Of My Joy, Was I Anywhere Or In Any Body?

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.

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?

Sin Is Looking For The Right Thing In The Wrong Place.

The Law Is Not In Fault, But Our Evil And Wicked Nature; Even As A Heap Of Lime Is Still And Quiet Until Water Is Poured On It, But Then It Begins To Smoke And Burn, Not From The Fault Of The Water, But From The Nature Of The Lime, Which Will Not Endure It.

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.

The Custom Of Mother Church In Baptizing Infants Is Certainly Not To Be Scorned, Nor Is It To Be Regarded In Any Way As Superfluous, Nor Is It To Be Believed That Its Tradition Is Anything Except Apostolic.

Singing Is A Lover's Thing.

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.

Eternity Is The Now That Does Not Pass Away.

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.

Nothing Conquers Except Truth And The Victory Of Truth Is Love.

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

Do You Wish To Rise? Begin By Descending. You Plan A Tower That Will Pierce The Clouds? Lay First The Foundation Of Humility.

Inspirational Life

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Karl Ove Knausgard

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