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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.

-Saint Augustine

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So You See How

Saint Augustine

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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.

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For What Is Time? ... Who Can Even In Thought Comprehend It, So As To Utter A Word About It? ... If No One Asks Me, I Know: If I Wish To Explain It To One That Asketh, I Know Not.

Within The Church, Sins Are Forgiven In Three Ways: By Baptism, By Prayer, And By The Greater Humility Of Penance; Yet God Does Not Forgive Sins Except To The Baptized.

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

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

Since You Cannot Do Good To All, You Are To Pay Special Attention To Those Who, By The Accidents Of Time, Or Place, Or Circumstances, Are Brought Into Closer Connection With You.

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.

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

Not To Give To Those In Need What Is To You Superfluous Is Akin To Fraud.

Do You Wish To Rise? Begin By Descending.

Drunkenness Is A Flattering Devil, A Sweet Poison, A Pleasant Sin, Which Whosoever Hath, Hath Not Himself, Which Whosoever Doth Commit, Doth Not Commit Sin, But He Himself Is Wholly Sin.

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

Procrastination

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.

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.

For Where I Found Truth, There Found I My God, The Truth Itself; Which Since I Learnt, I Have Not Forgotten.

God Is Not Greater If You Reverence Him, But You Are Greater If You Serve Him.

You Have Enemies. For Who Can Live On This Earth Without Them? Take Heed To Yourselves: Love Them. In No Way Can Your Enemy So Hurt You By His Violence, As You Hurt Yourself If You Love Him Not.

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.

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.

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.

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

Just As It Is Agreed That We All Wish To Be Happy, So It Is That We All Wish To Be Wise, Since No One Without Wisdom Is Happy.

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

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.

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.

We Do Not Sin When We Adore Christ In The Eucharist; We Do Sin When We Do Not Adore Christ In The Eucharist.

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.

Carnal Lust Rules Where There Is No Love Of God.

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

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'.

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

Nothing So Clearly Distinguishes A Spiritual Man As His Treatment Of An Erring Brother.

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.

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?

Grace Alone Brings About Every Good Work In Us.

The Holy Scriptures Are Our Letters From Home.

Let Us Leave A Little Room For Reflection In Our Lives, Room Too For Silence. Let Us Look Within Ourselves And See Whether There Is Some Delightful Hidden Place Inside Where We Can Be Free Of Noise And Argument. Let Us Hear The Word Of God In Stillness And Perhaps We Will Then Come To Understand It.

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.

Ignorance Itself Is Without A Doubt A Sin For Those Who Do Not Wish To Understand; For Those Who, However, Cannot Understand, It Is The Punishment Of Sin.

The Bread That You See On The Altar Is The Body Of Christ As Soon As It Is Sanctified By God's Word. The Chalice, Or Better What Is Contained In The Chalice, Is The Blood Of Christ As Soon As It Is Sanctified By God's Word

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

...if Humility Does Not Precede All That We Do, Our Efforts Are Fruitless.

God Is Always Trying To Give Good Things To Us, But Our Hands Are Too Full To Receive Them.

The Argument Is At An End.

Give What You Command And Command What You Will.

The Law Detects, Grace Alone Conquers Sin.

It Is Better To Be Cured In The Church Than To Be Cut Off From This Body As Incurable ... For, As Long As The Member Is Still Attached To The Body, His Cure Is Not Beyond Hope, But When He Has Been Cut Off, He Can Neither Be Treated Nor Cured.

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.

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."

A Christian Should Be An Alleluia From Head To Foot

The Most Venerable, Clearly Understood, Enlightened, And Reliable Constant In The World Is Not Only That We Want To Be Happy, But That We Want Only To Be So. Our Very Nature Requires It Of Us.

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

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

A Christian Man Is On His Guard With Respect To Those Who Philosophize According To The Elements Of This World, Not According To God, By Whom The World Itself Was Made; For He Is Warned By The Precept Of The Apostle And Faithfully Hears What Has Been Said, 'beware That No One Deceive You Through Philosophy And Vain Deceit, According To The Elements Of The World'

Love God, Then Do What You Will.

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

He Was Created Of A Mother Whom He Created. He Was Carried By Hands That He Formed. He Cried In The Manger In Wordless Infancy. He, The Word, Without Whom All Human Eloquence Is Mute.

...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.

I Do Not Comprehend All That I Am. Is The Mind, Therefore, Too Limited To Possess Itself?

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

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.

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.

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.

Whoever, Therefore, Thinks That He Understands The Divine Scriptures Or Any Part Of Them So That It Does Not Build On The Double Love Of God And Of Our Neighbor Does Not Understand It At All. Thus A Man Supported By Faith, Hope, And Charity, With An Unshaken Hold Upon Them Does Not Need The Scriptures. . . And Many Live By These Three Things In Solitude Without Books.

To Be Under Pressure Is Inescapable. Pressure Takes Place Through All The World; War, Siege, The Worries Of State. We All Know Men Who Grumble Under These Pressures And Complain. They Are Cowards. They Lack Splendour. But There Is Another Sort Of Man Who Is Under The Same Pressure But Does Not Complain, For It Is The Friction Which Polishes Him. It Is The Pressure Which Refines And Makes Him Noble

Temperance Is A Disposition That Restrains Our Desires For Things Which It Is Base To Desire.

For If A Thing Is Not Diminished By Being Shared With Others, It Is Not Rightly Owned If It Is Only Owned And Not Shared.

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.

I Was Unhappy And So Is Every Soul Unhappy Which Is Tied To Its Love For Mortal Things; When It Loses Them, It Is Torn In Pieces, And It Is Then That It Comes To Realize The Unhappiness Which Was There Even Before It Lost Them.

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

This World's A Bubble.

Woman Does Not Possess The Image Of God In Herself But Only When Taken Together With The Male Who Is Her Head, So That The Whole Substance Is One Image. But When She Is Assigned The Role As Helpmate, A Function That Pertains To Her Alone, Then She Is Not The Image Of God. But As Far As The Man Is Concerned, He Is By Himself Alone The Image Of God Just As Fully And Completely As When He And The Woman Are Joined Together Into One.

I Will Not Live An Instant That I Do Not Live In Love. Whoever Loves Does All Things Without Suffering, Or, Suffering, Loves His Suffering.

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.

What Is Time? If I Am Not Asked, I Know; If I Am Asked, I Don't.

Free Curiosity Is Of More Value In Learning Than Harsh Discipline.

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."

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.

If They Find A Christian Mistaken In A Field Which They Themselves Know Well And Hear Him Maintaining His Foolish Opinions About Our Books, How Are They Going To Believe Those Books In Matters Concerning The Resurrection Of The Dead, The Hope Of Eternal Life, And The Kingdom Of Heaven.

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.

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

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.

Whoever, Then, Thinks That He Understands The Holy Scriptures, Or Any Part Of Them, But Puts Such An Interpretation Upon Them As Does Not Tend To Build Up This Twofold Love Of God And Our Neighbor, Does Not Yet Understand Them As He Ought.

We Should Never Use The Truth To Wound.

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

Justice Being Taken Away, Then, What Are Kingdoms But Great Robberies? For What Are Robberies Themselves, But Little Kingdoms.

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.

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.

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

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

Cantare Amantis Est ... Singing Belongs To One Who Loves." (s. 336, 1 – Pl 38, 1472).

Let The Lord Your God Be Your Hope – Seek For Nothing Else From Him, But Let Him Himself Be Your Hope. There Are People Who Hope From Him Riches Or Perishable And Transitory Honours, In Short They Hope To Get From God Things Which Are Not God Himself.

Except He Be Willing, Man Cannot Believe.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

You Don't Love In Your Enemies What They Are, But What You Would Have Them Become By Your Prayers.

When, Therefore, Man Lives According To Man, Not According To God, He Is Like The Devil.

Bad Company Is Like A Nail Driven Into A Post, Which, After The First And Second Blow, May Be Drawn Out With Little Difficulty; But Being Once Driven Up To The Head, The Pincers Cannot Take Hold To Draw It Out, But Which Can Only Be Done By The Destruction Of The Wood.

He Who Labours, Prays.

As To Those Other Things Which We Hold On The Authority, Not Of Scripture, But Of Tradition, And Which Are Observed Throughout The Whole World, It May Be Understood That They Are Held As Approved And Instituted Either By The Apostles Themselves, Or By Plenary Councils, Whose Authority In The Church Is Most Useful, E.g. The Annual Commemoration, By Special Solemnities, Of The Lord's Passion, Resurrection, And Ascension, And Of The Descent Of The Holy Spirit From Heaven, And Whatever Else Is In Like Manner Observed By The Whole Church Wherever It Has Been Established.

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.

Make Friends With Angels.

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

The Truth Is Like A Lion; You Don’t Have To Defend It. Let It Loose; It Will Defend Itself.

One Loving Heart Sets Another On Fire.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Love Has Reasons That Reason Knows Not.

Man Has Been Naturally So Created That It Is Advantageous For Him To Be Submissive, But Disastrous For Him To Follow His Own Will, And Not The Will Of His Creator.

No One Can Have God As His Father Who Does Not Have The Church As His Mother.

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

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.

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

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

To Sing Is To Pray Twice.

Classical Music

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

For In Our Hope We Are Saved.

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

Though In The Order Of Nature Angels Rank Above Men, Yet, By Scale Of Justice, Good Men Are Of Greater Value Than Bad Angels.

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.

The Bible Was Composed In Such A Way That As Beginners Mature, Its Meaning Grows With Them.

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

Since God Is The Highest Good, He Would Not Allow Any Evil To Exist In His Works Unless His Omnipotence And Goodness Were Such As To Bring Good Even Out Of Evil.

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.

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.

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.

Let Him Who Desires To Be Harsh In Making Demands Upon His Debtors Consider That He Is God’s Debtor.

Suppress Prostitution, And Capricious Lusts Will Overthrow Society.

Singing Is A Lover's Thing.

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.

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.

God Bestows More Consideration On The Purity Of The Intention With Which Our Actions Are Performed Than On The Actions Themselves.

Purity And Love

When Large Numbers Of People Share Their Joy In Common, The Happiness Of Each Is Greater Because Each Adds Fuel To The Other's Flame.

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

Someone Who Knows Enough To Become The Owner Of A Tree, And Gives Thanks To You For The Benefits It Brings Him, Is In A Better State, Even If Ignorant Of Its Height In Feet And The Extent Of Its Spread, Than Another Who Measures And Counts All Its Branches But Neither Owns It Nor Knows Its Creator Nor Loves Him.

Disturbers Are To Be Rebuked, The Low Spirited To Be Encouraged, The Infirm To Be Supported, Objectors Confuted, The Treacherous Guarded Against, The Unskilled Taught, The Lazy Aroused, The Contentious Restrained, The Haughty Repressed, The Poor Relieved, The Oppressed Liberated, The Good Approved, The Evil Borne With, And All Are To Be Loved!

Love God And Do Whatever You Please: For The Soul Trained In Love To God Will Do Nothing To Offend The One Who Is Beloved.

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.

What Am I Then, My God? What Is My Nature? A Life Varied, Multifaceted And Truly Immense.

I Was Looking For Something To Love, For I Was In Love With Loving, And I Hated Security And A Smooth Way, Free From Snares.

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.

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.

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

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

Is Any Man Skillful Enough To Have Fashioned Himself?

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.

Any Woman Who Does Not Give Birth To As Many Children As She Is Capable Is Guilty Of Murder.

Your Wisdom Should Be Without Pride.

Custom Is Second Nature.

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

Love Is The Beauty Of The Soul.

Hope Has Two Lovely Daughters, Anger And Courage.

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.

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

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

Who Would Not Shudder If He Were Given The Choice Of Eternal Death Or Life Again As A Child ? Who Would Not Choose To Die ?

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

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.

If There Is Something More Excellent Than The Truth, Then That Is God; If Not, Then Truth Itself Is God.

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

Every Infinity... Is Made Finite To God.

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

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.

Peace In Society Depends Upon Peace In The Family.

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

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.

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.

Now The Apostle, Under The Inspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Says, "knowledge Inflates: But Love Edifies." The Only Correct Inerpretation Of This Saying Is That Knowledge Is Valuable When Charity Informs It. Without Charity, Knowledge Inflates; That Is, It Exalts Man To An Arrogance Which Is Nothing But A Kind Of Windy Emptiness.

The Measure Of Love Is To Love Without Measuring.

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

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

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.

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

Do You Desire Security? Here You Have It. The Lord Says To You, "i Will Never Abandon You, I Will Always Be With You." If A Good Man Made You Such A Promise, You Would Trust Him. God Makes It, And Do You Doubt? Do You Seek A Support More Sure Than The Word Of God, Which Is Infallible? Surely, He Has Made The Promise, He Has Written It, He Has Pledged His Word For It, It Is Most Certain.

If Faith Fails, Prayer Perishes.

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.

My Mind Withdrew Its Thoughts From Experience, Extracting Itself From The Contradictory Throng Of Sensuous Images, That It Might Find Out What That Light Was Wherein It Was Bathed... And Thus, With The Flash Of One Hurried Glance, It Attained To The Vision Of That Which Is.

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.

Purity Of Soul Cannot Be Lost Without Consent.

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

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.

Love Can Be Angry... With A Kind Of Anger In Which There Is No Gall, Like The Dove's And Not The Ravens.

I Beseech Thee, My God, I Would Fain Know, If So Thou Willest, For What Purpose My Baptism Was Then Deferred? Was It For My Good That The Rein Was Laid Loose, As It Were, Upon Me, For Me To Sin? Or Was It Not Laid Loose? If Not, Why Does It Still Echo In Our Ears On All Sides, "let Him Alone, Let Him Do As He Will, For He Is Not Yet Baptised?" But As To Bodily Health, No One Says, "let Him Be Worse Wounded, For He Is Not Yet Healed." How Much Better Then, Had I Been At Once Healed; And Then, By My Friends' Diligence And My Own, My Soul's Recovered Health Had Been Kept Safe In Thy Keeping Who Gavest It.

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

Love God, And Do What You Like.

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?

Such Then In Number And Importance Are The Precious Ties Belonging To The Christian Name Which Keep A Believer In The Catholic Church, As It Is Right They Should ... With You, Where There Is None Of These Things To Attract Or Keep Me... No One Shall Move Me From The Faith Which Binds My Mind With Ties So Many And So Strong To The Christian Religion... For My Part, I Should Not Believe The Gospel Except As Moved By The Authority Of The Catholic Church.

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

Punishment, That Is The Justice For The Unjust.

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

The Confession Of Evil Works Is The First Beginning Of Good Works.

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.

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

The Church Even Now Is The Kingdom Of Christ And The Kingdom Of Heaven. Accordingly, Even Now His Saints Reign With Him, Though Otherwise Than As They Shall Reign Hereafter; And Yet, Though The Tares Grow In The Church Along With The Wheat, They Do Not Reign With Him. For They Reign With Him Who Do What The Apostle Says, 'if You Are Risen With Christ, Mind The Things Which Are Above, Where Christ Sits At The Right Hand Of God. Seek Those Things Which Are Above, Not The Things Which Are On The Earth'.

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