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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.

-Saint Augustine

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Often A Non-christian Knows

Saint Augustine

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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.

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It Is Impossible That There Should Be Inhabitants On The Opposite Side Of The Earth, Since No Such Race Is Recorded By Scripture Among The Descendants Of Adam.

To Fall In Love With God Is The Greatest Romance; To Seek Him The Greatest Adventure; To Find Him, The Greatest Human Achievement.

Falling In Love

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 Mind Commands The Body, And It Obeys Forthwith; The Mind Commands Itself, And Is Resisted. The Mind Commands The Hand To Be Moved, And Such Readiness Is There That The Command Is Scarce To Be Distinguished From The Obedience. Yet The Mind Is Mind, And The Hand Is Body. The Mind Commands The Mind To Will, And Yet, Though It Be Itself, It Obeyeth Not. Whence This Monstrous Thing? And Why Is It?

Do You Wish To Be Great? Then Begin By Being. 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.

Thou Must Be Emptied Of That Wherewith Thou Art Full, That Thou Mayest Be Filled With That Whereof Thou Art Empty.

When God Is Our Strength, It Is Strength Indeed; When Our Strength Is Our Own, It Is Only Weakness.

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

My Love For You, Lord, Is Not An Uncertain Feeling, But A Matter Of Concious Certainty. With Your Word You Pierced My Heart, And I Loved You. But Heaven And Earth And Everything In Them On All Sides Tell Me To Love You.

Then Assuredly The World Was Made, Not In Time, But Simultaneously With Time.

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

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 You Are Must Always Displease You, If You Would Attain To That Which You Are Not.

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

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.

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'

Late Have I Loved You, O Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New. Late Have I Loved You. You Have Called To Me, And Have Called Out, And Have Shattered My Deafness. You Have Blazed Forth With Light And Have Put My Blindness To Flight! You Have Sent Forth Fragrance, And I Have Drawn In My Breath, And I Pant After You. I Have Tasted You, And I Hunger And Thirst After You. You Have Touched Me, And I Have Burned For Your Peace.

Hunger And Thirst

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.

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.

O Sacrament Of Love! O Sign Of Unity! O Bond Of Charity! He Who Would Have Life Finds Here Indeed A Life To Live In And A Life To Live By.

One Generation And Another Generation; The Generation By Which We Are Made The Faithful, And Are Born Again By Baptism; The Generation By Which We Shall Rise Again From The Dead, And Shall Live With The Angels For Ever.

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.

Unjust Laws Aren't Laws At All.

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

There Is No Possible Source Of Evil Except Good.

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.

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

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.

By And By Never Comes.

Patience Is The Companion Of Wisdom.

Oh, God, To Know You Is Life. To Serve You Is Freedom. To Praise You Is The Soul's Joy And Delight. Guard Me With The Power Of Your Grace Here And In All Places. Now And At All Times, Forever. Amen.

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.

The Rich Are Like Beasts Of Burden, Carrying Treasure All Day, And At The Night Of Death Unladen; They Carry To Their Grave Only The Bruises And Marks Of Their Toil.

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.

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.

Though There Are Very Many Nations All Over The Earth, ...there Are No More Than Two Kinds Of Human Society, Which We May Justly Call Two Cities, ...one Consisting Of Those Who Live According To Man, The Other Of Those Who Live According To God ....to The City Of Man Belong The Enemies Of God, ...so Inflamed With Hatred Against The City Of God.

There Is Another Form Of Temptation, Even More Fraught With Danger. This Is The Disease Of Curiosity. It Is This Which Drives Us To Try And Discover The Secrets Of Nature, Those Secrets Which Are Beyond Our Understanding, Which Can Avail Us Nothing And Which Man Should Not Wish To Learn.

"otherwise Grace Is No More Grace," Since It Is Bestowed On Us, Not Because We Have Done Good Works, But That We May Be Able To Do Them.

Do Not Say That You Have Chaste Minds If You Have Unchaste Eyes, Because An Unchaste Eye Is The Messenger Of An Unchaste Heart.

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

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

Quid Est Ergo Tempus? Si Nemo Ex Me Quaerat, Scio; Si Quaerenti Explicare Velim, Nescio. What, Then, Is Time? I Know Well Enough What It Is, Provided That Nobodyasksme; But If Iamasked What It Is And Try To Explain, I Am Baffled.

The Peace Of The Celestial City Is The Perfectly Ordered And Harmonious Enjoyment Of God, And Of One Another In God. (city Of God, Book 19)

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

Augustinethe Wounds Of A Friend Are Better Than The Kisses Of An Enemy. To Love With Sternness Is Better Than To Deceive With Gentleness.... In Luke [14:23] It Is Written: "compel People To Come In!" By Threats Of The Wrath Of God, The Father Draws Souls To His Son.

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

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.

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.

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

O Master, Make Me Chaste, But Not Yet!

Suppress Prostitution, And Capricious Lusts Will Overthrow Society.

We Judge All Things According To The Divine Truth.

How High A Price We Pay For The Burden Of Habit! I Am Fitted For Life Here Where I Do Not Want To Be, I Want To Live There But Am Unfit For It, And On Both Counts I Am Miserable.

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.

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

Jesus Took His Flesh From The Flesh Of Mary

In My Deepest Wound I Saw Your Glory, And It Dazzled Me.

The Mind Commands The Body And Is Instantly Obeyed. The Mind Commands Itself And Meets Resistance. The Mind Commands The Hand To Move, And It So Easy That One Hardly Distinguishes The Order From Its Execution. Yet Mind Is Mind And Hand Is Body. The Mind Orders The Mind To Will. The Recipient Of The Order Is Itself, Yet It Does Not Perform It.

Seek Not Abroad, For In The Inner Man Dwells The Truth.

A Wanton Eye Is A Messenger Of An Unchaste Heart.

I Want My Friend To Miss Me As Long As I Miss Him.

Our Whole Business In This Life Is To Restore To Health The Eye Of The Heart Whereby God May Be Seen.

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

For, As It Is Written In The Book Of The Prophets: 'and The Angel That Spoke In Me, Said To Me...' He Does Not Say, 'spoke To Me' But 'spoke In Me'.

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

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

He That Loveth Little Prayeth Little, He That Loveth Much Prayeth Much.

There Is No Greater Invitation To Love Than Loving First.

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.

God Is Best Known In Not Knowing Him.

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

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 Sacraments Are The Salvation Of Those Who Use Them Rightly, And The Damnation Of Those Who Misuse Them.

God Bids You Not To Commit Lechery, That Is, Not To Have Sex With Any Woman Except Your Wife. You Ask Of Her That She Should Not Have Sex With Anyone Except You -- Yet You Are Not Willing To Observe The Same Restraint In Return.

In All Your Movements, Let Nothing Be Evident That Would Offend The Eyes Of Another.

Do You Who Are A Christian Desire To Be Revenged And Vindicated, And The Death Of Jesus Christ Has Not Yet Been Revenged, Nor His Innocence Vindicated?

And Yet I Do Love A Kind Of Light, Melody, Fragrance, Food, Embracement When I Love My God; For He Is The Light, The Melody, The Fragrance, The Food, The Embracement Of My Inner Self - There Where Is A Brillance That Space Cannot Contain, A Sound That Time Cannot Carry Away, A Perfume That No Breeze Disperses, A Taste Undimisnished By Eating, A Clinging Together That No Saiety Will Sunder. This Is What I Love When I Love My God.

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?

Nothing So Casts Down The Manly Mind From It's Height As The Fondling Of Women And Those Bodily Contacts Which Belong To The Married State.

By The Fall A Poison Was Handed To Mankind Through A Woman [eve], By The Redemption Man Was Given Salvation Also Through A Woman [mary].

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.

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

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.

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

In The House Of God There Is Never Ending Festival; The Angel Choir Makes Eternal Holiday; The Presence Of God's Face Gives Joy That Never Fails.

What Then Is Time? If No One Asks Me, I Know What It Is. If I Wish To Explain It To Him Who Asks, I Do Not Know.

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?

You Are What You Love.

Blessed Is He Who Devotes His Life To Great And Noble Ends, And Who Forms His Well-considered Plans With Deliberate Wisdom.

Oh, Beauty, Ever Ancient And Ever New.

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 I Am Given A Formula, And I Am Ignorant Of Its Meaning, It Cannot Teach Me Anything, But If I Already Know It What Does The Formula Teach Me?

Eternity Is The Now That Does Not Pass Away.

He Who Is Filled With Love Is Filled With God Himself.

God Is Not What You Imagine Or What You Think You Understand. If You Understand You Have Failed.

Temporal Punishments Are Suffered By Some In This Life Only, By Some After Death, By Some Both Here And Hereafter, But All Of Them Before That Last And Strictest Judgment. But Not All Who Suffer Temporal Punishments After Death Will Come To Eternal Punishments, Which Are To Follow After That Judgment.

We Come To God By Love And Not By Navigation.

If You Excuse Yourself In Confession, You Shut Up Sin Within Your Soul, And Shut Out Pardon.

Hope Has Two Lovely Daughters, Anger And Courage.

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

A Christian Should Be An Alleluia From Head To Foot

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.

It Is Not That We Keep His Commandments First And That Then He Loves But That He Loves Us And Then We Keep His Commandments. This Is That Grace Which Is Revealed To The Humble But Hidden From The Proud.

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

Men Are Always Ready To Nose Around And Find Out About Other's Lives, But They Feel Lazy To Know Themselves And Correct Their Own Life.

Truth Is Not Private Property.

Private Property

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

To Touch God A Little With Our Mind Is A Great Blessing, To Grasp Him Is Impossible.

Two Loves Have Made Two Different Cities: Self-love Hath Made A Terrestrial City, Which Rises In Contempt Of God; And Divine Love Hath Made A Celestial One, Which Rises In Contempt Of Self. The Former Glories In Itself - The Latter In God.

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

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.

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

Why Is It That Man Desires To Be Made Sad, Beholding Doleful And Tragical Things, Which Yet Himself Would By No Means Suffer?

What Do I Love When I Love My God?

It Is Love That Asks, That Seeks, That Knocks, That Finds, And That Is Faithful To What It Finds.

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

My Weight Is My Love.

When The King Asked Him What He Meant By Infesting The Sea, The Pirate Defiantly Replied: The Same As You Do When You Infest The Whole World; But Because I Do It With A Little Ship I Am Called A Robber, And Because You Do It With A Great Fleet, You Are An Emperor.

Really Great Things, When Discussed By Little Men, Can Usually Make Such Men Grow Big.

Do Not Be Afraid To Throw Yourself On The Lord! He Will Not Draw Back And Let You Fall! Put Your Worries Aside And Throw Yourself On Him; He Will Welcome You And Heal You.

Make Me A Captive Lord, Then I Shall Be Truly Free.

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.

Let Necessity, And Not Your Will, Slay The Enemy Who Fights Against You.

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.

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!

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

Give What You Command And Command What You Will.

That Your Enemies Have Been Created Is God's Doing; That They Hate You And Wish To Ruin You Is Their Own Doing. What Should You Say About Them In Your Mind? "lord Be Merciful To Them, Forgive Them Their Sins, Put The Fear Of God In Them, Change Them!" You Are Loving In Them Not What They Are, But What You Would Have Them To Become.

The Old (testament) Is In The New (testament) Revealed, The New Is In The Old Concealed.

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.

We Can Know What God Is Not, But We Cannot Know What He Is.

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

Two Works Of Mercy Set A Person Free: Forgive And You Will Be Forgiven, And Give And You Will Receive.

Desire Only God, And Your Heart Will Be Satisfied.

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.

To Dye Oneself With Paints In Order To Have A Rosier Or A Paler Complexion Is A Lying Counterfeit.

...but We Enjoyed Playing Games And Were Punished For Them By Men Who Played Games Themselves. However, Grown-up Games Are Known As 'business' And Even Though Boys' Games Are Much The Same, They Are Punished For Them By Their Elders. No One Pities Either The Boys Or The Men, Though Surely We Deserve Pity, For I Cannot Believe That A Good Judge Would Approve Of The Beatings I Received As A Boy On The Ground That My Games Delayed My Progress In Studying Subjects Which Would Enable Me To Play A Less Creditable Game Later In Life.

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.

He Who Made Thee Is Made In Thee. He Is Made In Thee Through Whom You Were Made.... Give Milk, O Mother, To Him Who Is Our Food; Give Milk To The Bread That Comes Down From Heaven.

I Thought That Continence Was A Matter Of Our Own Strength, And I Knew That I Had Not The Strength: For In My Utter Foolishness I Did Not Know The Word Of Your Scripture That None Can Be Continent Unless You Give It.

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.

God Without Us Will Not As We Without God Cannot.

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

What Is Perfection In Love? Love Your Enemies In Such A Way That You Would Desire To Make Them Your Brothers ... For So Did He Love, Who Hanging On The Cross, Said "father, Forgive Them, For They Know Not What They Do." (luke 23:34)

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.

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.

Love, And Do What You Will. If You Keep Silence, Do It Out Of Love. If You Cry Out, Do It Out Of Love. If You Refrain From Punishing, Do It Out Of Love.

Where Was My Heart To Flee For Refuge From My Heart? Whither Was I To Fly, Where I Would Not Follow? In What Place Should I Not Be Prey To Myself?

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

Tolle, Lege: Take Up And Read.

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.

Men Go Forth To Marvel At The Height Of Mountains, And The Huge Waves Of The Sea, The Broad Flow Of The Rivers, The Vastness Of The Ocean, The Orbits Of The Stars, And Yet They Neglect To Marvel At Themselves. Variant: Men Go Abroad To Admire The Heights Of Mountains, The Mighty Billows Of The Sea, The Broad Tides Of Rivers, The Compass Of The Ocean, And The Circuits Of The Stars, And Pass Themselves By.

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.

For So It Is, O Lord My God, I Measure It! But What It Is I Measure, I Do Not Know.

Poltinus The Platonist Proves By Means Of The Blossoms And Leaves That From The Supreme God, Whose Beauty Is Invisible And Ineffable, Providence Reaches Down To The Things Of Earth Here Below. He Points Out That These Frail And Mortal Objects Could Not Be Endowed With A Beauty So Immaculate And So Exquisitely Wrought, Did They Not Issue From The Divinity Which Endlessly Prevades With Its Invisible And Unchanging Beauty All Things.

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

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 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.

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.

Venerate The Martyrs, Praise, Love, Proclaim, Honor Them. But Worship The God Of The Martyrs.

Understanding Is The Reward Of Faith.

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.

So While He Made You Without You, He Doesn't Justify You Without You.

Charity Is The Root Of All Good Works.

When People Truly Open Their Minds, And Contemplate The Way In Which The Universe Is Ordered And Governed, They Are Amazed-overwhelmed By A Sense Of The Miraculous. When People Contemplate With Open Minds The Germination Of A Single Seed, They Are Equally Overwhelmed-yet Numerous Babies Are Born Every Day, And No-one Marvels. If Only People Opened Their Minds, They Would See That The Birth Of A Baby, In Which A New Life Is Created, Is A Greater Miracle Than Restoring Life.

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

What I Needed Most Was To Love And To Be Loved, Eager To Be Caught. Happily I Wrapped Those Painful Bonds Around Me; And Sure Enough, I Would Be Lashed With The Red-hot Pokers Or Jealousy, By Suspicions And Fear, By Burst Of Anger And Quarrels.

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

The Devil Invented Gambling.

That There Should Be Some Fire Even After This Life Is Not Incredible, And It Can Be Inquired Into And Either Be Discovered Or Left Hidden Whether Some Of The Faithful May Be Saved, Some More Slowly And Some More Quickly In The Greater Or Lesser Degree In Which They Loved The Good Things That Perish, Through A Certain Purgatorial Fire.

Grace Alone Brings About Every Good Work In Us.

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.

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.

He Cannot Have God For His Father Who Will Not Have The Church For His Mother.

The Measure Of Charity May Be Taken From The Want Of Desires. As Desires Diminish In The Soul, Charity Increases In It; And When It No Longer Feels Any Desire, Then It Possesses Perfect Charity.

The Good Man, Though A Slave, Is Free; The Wicked, Though He Reigns, Is A Slave.

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

Moral Responsibility

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.

God Has No Need Of Your Money, But The Poor Have. You Give It To The Poor, And God Receives It.

I Held My Heart Back From Positively Accepting Anything, Since I Was Afraid Of Another Fall, And In This Condition Of Suspense I Was Being All The More Killed.

He Who Denies The Existence Of God, Has Some Reason For Wishing That God Did Not Exist.

Give Me Chastity And Continence, But Not Yet.

Do You Know Who The Upright Of Heart Are? They Are Those Who Wish What God Wishes. Therefore, Do Not Try To Twist God's Will To You Own But Correct Your Will To That Of God. The Will Of God Is A Rule Of Conduct. By It You Have The Means Of Being Converted And Of Correcting Your Evil Ways.

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.

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.

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

The Fruits Of Charity Are Joy, Peace, And Mercy; Charity Demands Beneficence And Fraternal Correction; It Is Benevolence; It Fosters Reciprocity And Remains Disinterested And Generous; It Is Friendship And Communion: Love Is Itself The Fulfillment Of All Our Works. There Is The Goal; That Is Why We Run: We Run Toward It, And Once We Reach It, In It We Shall Find Rest.

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

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.

What Is Grace? I Know Until You Ask Me; When You Ask Me, I Do Not Know.

What You See Is The Bread And The Chalice; That Is What Your Own Eyes Report To You. But What Your Faith Obliges You To Accept Is That The Bread Is The Body Of Christ And The Chalice Is The Blood Of Christ. This Has Been Said Very Briefly, Which May Perhaps Be Sufficient For Faith; Yet Faith Does Not Desire Instruction

Humility Must Accompany All Our Actions, Must Be With Us Everywhere; For As Soon As We Glory In Our Good Works They Are Of No Further Value To Our Advancement In Virtue.

One Can't Reach The Truth But Through Love.

I Found Thee Not, O Lord, Without, Because I Erred In Seeking Thee Without That Wert Within.

Never Judge A Philosophy By Its Abuse.

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

Nothing, Therefore, Happens Unless The Omnipotent Wills It To Happen. He Either Permits It To Happen, Or He Brings It About Himself.

Love God, Then Do What You Will.

If You Are Pleased With What You Are, You Have Stopped Already. If You Say, "it Is Enough," You Are Lost. Keep On Walking, Moving Forward, Trying For The Goal.

Since Love Grows Within You, So Beauty Grows. For Love Is The Beauty Of The Soul.

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Neal A. Maxwell

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