The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance.

It was morning; through the high window I saw the pure, bright blue of the sky as it hovered cheerfully over the long roofs of the neighboring houses. It too seemed full of joy, as if it had special plans, and had put on its finest clothes for the occasion.

One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him.

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.

Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.

Jesus paid a tremendous price for us so we could have abundant life. He willingly took all of our sin on Himself and gave His life on the cross so we could be forgiven and have new life in Him.

But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.

When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never forgive the loss of their prerogative.

A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners.

Pride is still aiming at the best houses: Men would be angels, angels would be gods. Aspiring to be gods, if angels fell; aspiring to be angels men rebel.

The revealed Word awakened me, but it was the preached Word that saved me, and I must ever attach peculiar value to the hearing of the truth, for by it I received the joy and peace in which my soul delights.

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.

I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek – I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man.

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.

There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.

The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.

I’m convinced that no one can amount to a damn in the arts if he becomes sweetly reasonable, seeing all sides of a picture, forgiving all sins.

Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.

There is no delight in owning anything unshared.

My mother’s love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, her intelligence reflected in my daughters.

Never envy a man his lady. Behind it all lays a living hell.

I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.

Each time we cooperate with God, we take one more giant step forward. Because when God asks us to change, it means that He always has something better to give us – more freedom, greater joy, and greater blessings.

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.

There are techniques of Buddhism, such as meditation, that anyone can adopt. And, of course, there are Christian monks and nuns who already use Buddhist methods in order to develop their devotion, compassion, and ability to forgive.

I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvellous Presence.

No evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. He and his are not neglected by the gods.

Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

Always remember that others may hate you but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.

Real joy seems to me almost as unlike security or prosperity as it is unlike agony.

Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn’t that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you.

It’s amazing if you just listen to people. They tell you all the time things that you can do for them, without even realizing what they’re doing. I’ve learned to take notice of those things and if it’s something that I feel God wants me to do, then I try to do that to add joy to their life.

Better to be occasionally cheated than perpetually suspicious.

But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes.

Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.

In my later years, I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I’ve worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior.

The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.

What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.

Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.

If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.

The gods‘ service is tolerable, man’s intolerable.

Despite the slowness, the infidelity, the errors and sins it committed and might still commit against its members, the Church, trust me, has no other meaning and goal but to live and witness Jesus.

If you haven’t forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others.

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.

You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife?

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

Bad men are full of repentance.

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.

As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision.

When you make a mistake and the devil comes and tells you ‚You’re no good,‘ you don’t have to take on the guilt and condemnation he wants to put on you. No! You can immediately confess your mistake to God, thank Him for forgiving you and cleansing you with the blood of Jesus, and move forward in the victory of His grace and forgiveness.