Saint Francis de Sales Quotes - Page 3

One rarely does well what one rarely does.

The Prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer, for there is none more powerful, save martyrdom!

Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.

Fear is a greater evil than evil itself.

Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly.

We may be excused for not always being bright, but we are not excused for not being gracious, yielding and considerate.

The Lord delights in every little step you take.

The Devil doesn't fear austerity but holy obedience.

Cook the truth in charity until it tastes sweet.

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

It is to those who have the most need of us that we ought to show our love more especially.

The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.

A heart-memory is better than a mere head-memory. Better to carry away a little of the love of Christ in our souls, than if we were able to repeat every word of every sermon we ever heard.

There is nothing as strong as tenderness, And nothing as tender as true strength.

One great remedy against all manner of temptation, great or small, is to open the heart and lay bare its suggestion, likings, and dislikings before some spiritual adviser; for, . . . the first condition which the Evil One makes with a soul, when he wants to entrap it, is silence.

We can never attain to perfection while we have an affection for any imperfection.

The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not "What a lovely sermon!" but "I will do something."

Nothing is more like a wise man than a fool who holds his tongue.

If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently... And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed.

You can attract more bees with a spoonful of sugar than a cupful of vinegar.

Don't get upset with your imperfections. Surrender to the Power of God's Love, which is greater than our weakness.

It matters little how one begins, provided that he be resolved to go on well, and to end well.

Humor is the foundation of reconciliation.

The merit of the cross does not consist in its heaviness, but in the manner in which we carry it. I would even say that it is sometimes more virtuous to carry a cross of straw than a heavy cross because we have to be more attentive for fear of losing it.

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.