• “Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.”

― Francis Bacon

• “The past can not be cured.”

― Queen Elizabeth I

• “We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”

― John Henry Newman

• "One should go to sleep as homesick passengers do, saying " Perhaps in the morning we shall see the shore."

― Henry Ward Beecher

• "And lilies are still lilies, pulled

By smutty hands, though spotted from their white." ― Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• "The lily is all in white, like a saint,

And so is no mate for me." ― Thomas Hood

• "How sweet on the breeze of the evening swells

The vesper call of those soothing bells, Borne softly and dying in echoes away, Like a requiem sung to the parting day." ― Letitia Elizabeth Landon

• "O the hard-boiled eggs! There are two corner-stones necessary for a picnic — sunshine and hard-boiled eggs."

― Norman Gale

• "The children of God are very dear but very queer, very nice but very narrow."

― Sundhar Singh

• “If someone puts love for their country, party, movement, idea above the truth about it, whatever it may be, that is not true patriotism, that is not a true fighter for an idea. That is a moral coward in search of an alibi.”

― Borislav Pekić

• “An apple is an excellent thing - until you have tried a peach.”

— George du Maurier

• “ I believe in God, the Master most mighty, stirrer-up of Heaven and earth. And in Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth, who was born of proletarian Mary, toiled at the work bench, descended into labor's hell, suffered under Roman tyranny at the hands of Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. The Power not ourselves which makes for freedom, he rose again from the dead to be lord of the democratic advance, sworn foe of stagnancy, maker of folk upheavals. I believe in work, the self-respecting toiler, the holiness of beauty, freeborn producers, the communion of comrades, the resurrection of workers, and the industrial commonwealth, the cooperative kingdom eternal."

— Bouck White

• "In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity."

— Unknown

• "Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living."

— Mary Harris "Mother" Jones

• “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

• “All healthy religion shows you what to do with your pain, with the absurd, the tragic, the nonsensical, the unjust and the undeserved—all of which eventually come into every lifetime. If only we could see these “wounds” as the way through, as Jesus did, then they would become sacred wounds rather than scars to deny, disguise, or project onto others. I am sorry to admit that I first see my wounds as an obstacle more than a gift. Healing is a long journey.
• If we cannot find a way to make our wounds into sacred wounds, we invariably become cynical, negative, or bitter. This is the storyline of many of the greatest novels, myths, and stories of every culture. If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it—usually to those closest to us: our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, and, invariably, the most vulnerable, our children.”

— Fr. Richard Rohr

• "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love."

— John of the Cross

• "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

— C.S. Lewis

• "All who seek truth, seek God, whether this is clear to them or not."

— Edith Stein

• "Even if you are your own worst enemy, Our Lord tells us to love our enemies."

— Francis de Sales

• "I carry within me three lives, all very strong: family life with its multiple sorrows of a thousand kinds, that is, the life of a mother; the life of the Works of the Cross with all its sorrows and weight, which at times crushes me until I have no strength left; and the life of the spirit or interior life, which is the heaviest of all, with its highs and lows, its tempests and struggles, its light and darkness. Blessed be God for everything!"

— Concepción Cabrera de Armida

• “What I see around me would drive me insane, if I did not know that no matter what happens, God has the last word.”

— Elder Paisios the Athonite

• “ First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

—Martin Niemöller

• “If the Americans could, they would have a Christ without the cross.”

— Archbishop Fulton Sheen

• "Yet, if love be the supreme good, let women be only educated to inspire it, and let every charm be polished to intoxicate the senses; but, if they be moral beings, let them have a chance to become intelligent; and let love to man be only a part of that glowing flame of universal love, which, after encircling humanity, mounts in grateful incense of God."

— Mary Wollstonecraft

• “ Death lays his icy hand on Kings,

Sceptre and Crown, Must tumble down,

And in the dust be equal made,

With the poor crooked scythe and spade.” — James Shirley

• "The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither."

— C.S. Lewis

• “Principles are principles, and they remain firm and are always to be defended. But all consciences are not the same. In applying principles to consciences, we must do it with great prudence, much common sense, and much goodness. In your opinions and decisions never be severe. The Lord does not want that. Be always just, but never severe. Give the solution that offers the soul some room in which to breathe.”

— Felix Maria Cappello, SJ

• “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by acting stupid, for fun.”

— Allen Ginsberg

• “Refrain from judging one another, whether one is saved or lost is none of our business."

— Catherine of Siena

• “Heretics are to be converted by an example of humility and other virtues for more readily than by any external display or verbal battles. So let us arm ourselves with devout prayers and set off showing signs of genuine humility and go barefooted to combat Goliath.”

— Dominic of Padua