Anyone who wants to be pope doesn’t care much for themselves, God doesn’t bless them. I didn’t want to be pope.

Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.

One thing I hope I’ll never be is drunk with my own power. And anybody who says I am will never work in this town again.

An author who speaks about their own books is almost as bad as a mother who speaks about her own children.

In this big ball of people, I’m just one grain of sand on this beach.

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.

A conductor can’t be too arrogant with an orchestra and try to impose himself too much.

Lord Jesus, we come just as we are; this is how we came at first, and this is how we come still, with all our failures, with all our transgressions, with all and everything that is what it ought not to be, we come to Thee.

No one should be ashamed to admit he is wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so ‚don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.‘

I don’t have all the answers.

I’m no genius.

I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.

Being too good is apt to be uninteresting.

Be the chief but never the lord.

I’m not the judge. You know, God didn’t tell me to go around judging everybody.

The best author will be the one who is ashamed to become a writer.

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.

My favorite time in the cycles of public life is the time when the Pope is dead and they haven’t elected a new one. There’s no one in the world who is infallible for those weeks. And you know, I don’t miss it.

Being humble matters.

I mean, when you grow up in the inner city and you grow up in a single-parent household, that’s – those are humbling times, you know?

There was my name up in lights. I said, ‚God, somebody’s made a mistake.‘ But there it was, in lights. And I sat there and said, ‚Remember, you’re not a star.‘ Yet there it was up in lights.

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.

I’d rather give my life than be afraid to give it.

Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

The main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a life of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that’s really the essence of the Christian faith.

He who knows best knows how little he knows.

I want to be the greatest actor that ever lived, frankly. I’d love that. But I don’t need to be. I just want to be here. That’s it.

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.

No one but a fool is always right.

I said I was ‚The Greatest,‘ I never said I was the smartest!

Over the course of my career in law enforcement, I have witnessed over and over again the selflessness and sacrifice of law enforcement who lay their lives on the line every day to protect people who they will never meet and people who will never know their names.

Revenge, lust, ambition, pride, and self-will are too often exalted as the gods of man’s idolatry; while holiness, peace, contentment, and humility are viewed as unworthy of a serious thought.

I don’t consider myself an intellectual. And this is not one of my aims. But I admire intellectual people.

I have spent the greater part of my life in a hotel room with seven or eight kids, looking after everyone, sorting out fights, wiping noses, handing out towels, not having a clean towel left for me.

The infinitely little have a pride infinitely great.

Leaders who fail to prune their pride will meet demise. That’s not a guess, it’s a guarantee. With pride, it’s not a matter of ‚if‘ we will fall, but ‚when.‘ There are no exceptions.

The need to be right is the sign of a vulgar mind.

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don’t speak well of yourself.

I never say I am a guru.

I am not the humblest person in the world. I admit that.

I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can… But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.

The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.

My problem is I am Christian, so I think other people must have success, too; it’s not about me.

What we won when all of our people united must not be lost in suspicion and distrust and selfishness and politics. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as president.

If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That’s not going to happen if you care only about yourself.

I know nothing, except the fact of my ignorance.

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

I don’t think I’m such an amazing person who needs to be written about.

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.

There’s love, and certainly children you care about more than yourself. But nevertheless, we’re alone in our heads.

Do something for somebody everyday for which you do not get paid.

If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself.

We just cannot worry about ourselves.

None are more taken in by flattery than the proud, who wish to be the first and are not.

The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ’s name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.

If the grandfather of the grandfather of Jesus had known what was hidden within him, he would have stood humble and awe-struck before his soul.

The nobler a man, the harder it is for him to suspect inferiority in others.

Those who are believed to be most abject and humble are usually most ambitious and envious.