"If you ever think you are completely and utterly right..."
If that dumb devil mentioned in the Gospel gets into your soul, he will spoil everything. On the other hand, if you get rid of him immediately, everything will turn out well; you will carry on merrily, and all will be well. Resolve firmly to be 'savagely sincere' in spiritual direction (always keeping your good manners) and to be sincere immediately. (The Forge, 127)
“God resists the proud”
A sure way to be humble is to contemplate how, even without talents, fame or fortune, we can be effective instruments if we go to the Holy Spirit so that He may grant us his gifts. The apostles, though they had been taught by Jesus for three years, fled in terror from the enemies of Christ. But after Pentecost they let themselves be flogged and imprisoned, and ended up giving their lives in witness to their faith. (Furrow, 283)
“Chastity is not a troublesome and humiliating burden”
In living holy purity and a clean life, there is a great difficulty to which we are all exposed. The danger is one of becoming bourgeois, either in our spiritual life or in our professional life; the danger - also a real one for those called by God to marriage - of becoming dry old bachelors, selfish; people who do not love. Fight that danger tooth and nail, without making concessions of any kind. (The Forge, 89)
“We wish to look through unclouded eyes”
How beautiful is holy purity! But it is not holy, nor pleasing to God, if we separate it from charity. Charity is the seed that will grow and yield rich fruit under the fertile rain of purity. Without charity, purity is barren, and its sterile waters turn the soul into a swamp, into a cesspool from which rises the stench of pride. (The Way, 119)
“After death you will be welcomed by Love itself”
Now you realize how much you have made Jesus suffer, and you are filled with sorrow. How easy it is to ask his pardon and weep for your past betrayals! Such is your longing for atonement that you cannot contain it in your breast! Fine. But don’t forget that the spirit of penance consists mainly in the fulfillment of the duty of each moment, however costly it may be. (The Way of the Cross, Ninth Station, 5)
“For us death is Life”
Keep going forward cheerfully and trying hard, even though you are so little - nothing at all! When you are with Him nobody in the world can stop you. Consider, moreover, how everything is good for those who love God. Every problem in this world has a solution, except death, and for us death is Life. (The Forge, 1001)
“We will wholeheartedly love poverty”
If we are close to Christ and are following in his footsteps, we will wholeheartedly love poverty, privation and detachment from earthly things. (The Forge, 997)
“We should never have time on our hands, not even a second”
You were consoled by the idea that life is to be spent, burned in the service of God. And spending ourselves entirely for him is how we shall be freed from death, which brings us the possession of Life. (Furrow, 883)
“The peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ'”
A secret, an open secret: these world crises are crises of saints. God wants a handful of men 'of his own' in every human activity. And then... 'pax Christi in regno Christi--the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ'. (The Way, 301)
“God who created you without you, will not save you without you”
I am copying this example of cowardice from a letter so that you will not imitate it: "I am certainly very grateful to you for keeping me in mind, because I need many prayers. But I would also be grateful if, when you ask Our Lord to make me an apostle, you would not insist on asking him to make me surrender my freedom." (Furrow, 11)