Francis De Sales

If, when stung by slander or ill-nature, we wax proud and swell with anger, it is a proof that our gentleness and humility are unreal, and mere artificial show.

We all colour devotion according to our own likings and dispositions. One man sets great value on fasting, and believes himself to be leading a very devout life, so long as he fasts rigorously, although the while his heart is full of bitterness;–and while he will not moisten his lips with wine, perhaps not even with water, in his great abstinence, he does not scruple to steep them in his neighbour’s blood, through slander and detraction.

The same Everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day of your life. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts.

If you have firm trust in God, the success that comes to you will always be that which is most useful for you whether it appears good or bad in your private judgment.

God is merciful to those who want to love Him and who have placed their hopes in Him.

Make yourself familiar with the angels and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.

Our possessions are not ours- God has given them to us to cultivate, that we may make them fruitful and profitable in His Service, and so doing we shall please Him.

Be patient, you are in good company. Our Lord Himself, our Lady, the apostles, and countless saints, both men and women, have been poor.

Grace is never wanting. God always gives sufficient grace to whoever is willing to receive it.

Little deeds that proceed from charity please God and have their place among meritorious acts.

Certainly all virtues are very dear to God, but humility pleases Him above all the others, and it seems that He can refuse it nothing.

Humility consists in not esteeming ourselves above other men, and in not seeking to be esteemed above them.

Let us make our way through these low valleys of the humble and little virtues. We shall see in them the roses amid the thorns, charity that shows its beauty among interior and exterior afflictions, the lilies of purity.

A man who can own pearls does not bother about shells, and those who aspire to virtue do not trouble themselves over honors.

If after all your efforts you cannot succeed, you could not please our Lord more than by sacrificing to Him your will, and remaining in tranquility, humility, and devotion, entirely conformed and submissive to His divine will and good pleasure.

The King of Glory does not reward His servants according to the dignity of their office, but according to the humility and love with which they have exercised it.

Truly it is a blessed thing to love on earth as we hope to love in Heaven, and to begin that friendship here which is to endure for ever there.

Fits of anger, vexation,and bitterness against ourselves tend to pride and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is disturbed and upset at seeing that it is imperfect.

During the night we must wait for the light.

Never be hurried in anything. Do all things calmly and in a spirit of repose. Do not lose your inward peace even if everything seems to be going wrong. What is anything in life compared to peace of soul?,He would never exhort the faithful to persevere if he were not ready to give them the power to do so.

He will unfailingly be pleased with our patience and take note of our diligence and perseverance.

Be patient and one day you will be in Heaven, where there will be only peace and joy . . . You will possess an enduring tranquility and rest.

We must unceasingly ask for [perseverance] by making use of the means which God has taught us for obtaining it: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, frequenting the sacraments, association with good companions, and hearing and reading Holy Scripture.

If we walk steadily and faithfully. . . God will lift us up to greater things.

Everybody finds themselves sometimes deficient in what they need, and put to inconvenience . . . the richest people may easily be without something they want, and that is practically to suffer poverty. Accept such occurrences cheerfully, rejoice in them, bear them willingly.

Take patiently the petty annoyances, the trifling discomforts, the unimportant losses which come upon all of us daily; for by means of these little matters, lovingly and freely accepted, you will give Him your whole heart, and win His.

One of the best exercises in meekness we can perform is when the subject Is in ourselves. We must not fret over our own imperfections. Although reason requires that we must be displeased and sorry whenever we commit a fault we must refrain from bitter, gloomy,spiteful, and emotional displeasure. Many people are greatly at fault in this way. When overcome by anger they become angry at being angry, disturbed at being disturbed and vexed at being vexed. By such means they keep their hearts drenched and steeped in passion.

The whole world is not worth one soul.

There are two sorts of good wills. The one says, "I would do well, but it gives me trouble, and I will not do it. " The other, "I wish to do well, but I have not as much power as I have will; it is this which holds me back. " The first fills Hell, the second Paradise.

Frequently give up some of your property by giving it with a generous heart to the poor . . . It is true that God will repay us not only in the next world but even in this.

Examine your heart often to see if it is such toward your neighbor as you would like his to be toward you were you in his place. This is the touchstone of true reason.

For acting thus you will remain innocent among the hissings of the serpents, and like a sweet strawberry you will receive no venom from the contact of venomous tongues. .