Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us… While what we call ‚our own life‘ remains agreeable, we will not surrender it to Him. What, then, can God do in our interests but make ‚our own life‘ less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible sources of false happiness?

It is impossible to underrate human intelligence – beginning with one’s own.

We are wiser than we know.

The Army will take its lessons learned. They’re excellent at looking into themselves and reflecting on what did we do right, what did we do wrong.

The good things of prosperity are to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.

Love always ends differently and it always begins differently – especially with me.

In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.

He knows my limitations and where I’m a good wife and a good mom.

We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our education system.

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

I understand aggressiveness in only one way: being prepared to hurt yourself, not someone else.

Always take hold of things by the smooth handle.

I’m all about evolution. I’m the first person to judge myself.

If we don’t plant the right things, we will reap the wrong things. It goes without saying. And you don’t have to be, you know, a brilliant biochemist and you don’t have to have an IQ of 150. Just common sense tells you to be kind, ninny, fool. Be kind.

God and I have a great relationship, but we both see other people.

I try to speak in everyday language. I feel like God has gifted me to take Bible principles and make them practical.

There are things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind.

Good intentions never change anything. They only become a deeper and deeper rut.

I just have always felt that people don’t change, circumstances change.

If you’re serious, you really understand that it’s important that you laugh as much as possible and admit that you’re the funniest person you ever met. You have to laugh. Admit that you’re funny. Otherwise, you die in solemnity.

Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.

I am no longer sure of anything. If I satiate my desires, I sin but I deliver myself from them; if I refuse to satisfy them, they infect the whole soul.

I think I mainly climb mountains because I get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. I never attempt to analyze these things too thoroughly, but I think that all mountaineers do get a great deal of satisfaction out of overcoming some challenge which they think is very difficult for them, or which perhaps may be a little dangerous.

I think my vice would be outdoing myself.

You know, most people really don’t know me.

I believe that when you think of the negative, and you get up discouraged – ‚There’s nothing good in my future‘ – I really believe it almost ties the hands of God. God works where there’s an attitude of faith. I believe faith is all about hope.

I do believe in God. But you won’t find me visiting temples every now and then. I believe in self-realization. Peace of mind matters a lot to me. What’s the point in doing something just for the sake of it? I’d rather do something I like doing as long as I’m being true to myself.

I fear that many a man’s good resolutions only need the ordinary fire of daily life to make them melt away. So, too, with fine professions and the boastings of perfection which abound in this age of shams.

Only he can take great resolves who has indomitable faith in God and has fear of God.

I sincerely hope I can contribute to the progress there has been in relations between Jews and Catholics since the Second Vatican Council in a spirit of renewed collaboration.

Men take only their needs into consideration – never their abilities.

I want to challenge you today to get out of your comfort zone. You have so much incredible potential on the inside. God has put gifts and talents in you that you probably don’t know anything about.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can’t put a dollar sign on.

When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we proclaim Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly. We may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, all of this, but we are not disciples of the Lord.

The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it: so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it.

Hate has no place in the house of God.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

All through my writing life, I’ve had this impulse to write autobiographical works.

Was Jesus the son of God? Yes. But so are you. You just haven’t realized it yet.

Worship is transcendent wonder.

Science is increasingly answering questions that used to be the province of religion.

Piety is not a goal but a means to attain through the purest peace of mind the highest culture.

God enters by a private door into every individual.

The people of Northern Ireland have sorted out my whole life.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.

It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.

Keep a good attitude and do the right thing even when it’s hard. When you do that you are passing the test. And God promises you your marked moments are on their way.

Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.

When I was married, I definitely went through a lying period.

Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems – most life situations are – but find out if you have a problem at this moment. Do you have a problem now?

Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life.

When I grew up, the Devil was a reason why I had a headache or the Devil was the reason I got mad today. We always blamed the Devil. I think today when I say the Enemy, I like to make it broader. Sometimes the Enemy can be our own thoughts.

I believe time wounds all heels.

God has already done everything He’s going to do. The ball is now in your court. If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, you’re going to have to do more than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.

It’s the journey of self, I guess. You start with this kind of loner, outside guy, which a lot of people can relate to, and he goes out into the world.

Books can only reveal us to ourselves, and as often as they do us this service we lay them aside.

Billy Graham is one of my great lifetime heroes. I think he epitomizes the essence of what a Christian leader should be. I have participated in some of his crusades a couple of times in Atlanta. I’ve seen the profound impact he’s had on me personally, and on other people who were not Christians and accepted Christ as Savior.

People often speak of God being even-handed. God is not even-handed. God is biased, in favor of the weak, of the despised.