Judging others make us blind, whereas love is illuminating.  By judging others we blind ourselves . . . to the grace which others are just as entitled to as are we.
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Unless we perform divine service with every willing act of our life, we never perform it at all.
—John Ruskin

We descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility.
—Benedict of Nursia

Going often to prayer is an act of faith. . . . Trying to be attentive in your prayers is an act of faith. . . . These are acts of faith, because they are acts that you would accomplish if you saw and understood that God is present, though your eyes and ears neither see nor hear him.
—John Henry Newman

The secret of the constancy of grace and virtue lies in the perseverance in prayer.
—John Cassian

It is no small matter to forsake the ancient tradition of the church that was upheld by all those who were called before us, whose conduct we should observe, and whose faith we should imitate.
—John of Damascus

In all created things discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things give Him thanks.
—Saint Teresa of Á​vila

Jesus proclaimed to sinners, to human beings doomed to death, that they could be saved only by a radical faith, a wholehearted conversion, and new obedience to the one God.
—Hans Küng

Just when I recognize myself in the thoughtless covetousness of these nine [lepers] who pocket the healing, who lay hold of grace as something owed to them, and disappear from the gospel . . . here comes the new people of God, this Samaritan who praises God with his whole body . . . this man fresh and excited in the face of the word, this stranger to the gospel who is transformed by it.
—Georges Casalis

To follow the Savior is to participate in salvation, to follow the light is to perceive the light.
—Irenaeus of Lyons

Only the heart knows how to find what is precious.
—Fyodor Dostoyevski

I am determined not to place limits to trust and to extend it to all things . . . . You will be my strength, O my God, you will be my guide, my director, my counsel, my patience, my knowledge, my peace, my justice, and my prudence.
—Claude de la Colombière

Don't forget the poor.
—Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, to newly elected Pope Francis

Every person who has more than is indispensable for material and spiritual well-being is a millionaire, and thus a debtor of those who have nothing.
—Basil the Great

Abraham was hospitable, and so the sight of Lazarus with Abraham was meant to reproach the rich man for his own inhospitality.
—John Chrysostom

Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation.
—Pope Francis

The bread that you have stored up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold that you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor.
—Saint Basil the Great

We have to serve God in God’s way, not ours.
—Teresa of Ávila

In essence, we’re “loved sinners.” Both goodness and sin constitute our real identity. Not to recognize the truth of either leaves us either unhealthily depressed or dangerously inflated, too hard on ourselves or too easy on ourselves.
—Ronald Rolheiser

I exist in a web of relationships—links to nature, people, God . . . . Some links are twisted and broken: I may feel regret, anger, disappointment. I pray for the gift of acceptance and forgiveness.
—Sacred Space prayer website

All things come from nothing and are borne to infinity. Who will trace these astonishing paths? The author of these marvels understands them. No one else can do so.
—Blaise Pascal

Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.
—John Chrysostom

Jesus Christ is a God whom one approaches without pride, before whom one may humble oneself without despair.
—Blaise Pascal

Don’t be so humble—you are not that great.
—Golda Meir to a visiting diplomat

God loves and defends those with least economic and social power, and so should we. That is what it means to “do justice.”                                      
—Timothy J. Keller, Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just

Since gold and silver, which are only corruptible metals, are purified and tested by fire, it is but reasonable that our faith, which surpasses all the riches of the world, should be tried.
—Peter Claver

The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.
—Leo Tolstoy

The glory of God, and, as our only means to glorifying [God], the salvation of human souls, is the real business of life.
—C. S. Lewis