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

Do not bind me; the one who has given me the strength to face the fire will also enable me to lie still on the pyre, with no need of your nails.
—Saint Polycarp to his executioners

If we were willing to learn the meaning of real discipleship and actually to become disciples, the church in the West would be transformed.
—Church of England Canon David Watson

Every experience God gives us . . . is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see.
—Corrie ten Boom

A God will gird himself, bring his servants to table, and wait on them! Behold an unexpected inversion of things, a terrible reprimand to masters, a surprising reversal of subordination.
—Peter Chrysologus (406-450)

Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.
—Emily Dickinson

Vanity not only distances us from God: it makes us look ridiculous.
—Pope Francis

The means by which we live have superseded the ends for which we live. . . . We have foolishly minimized what is interior in our lives for what is exterior. We have reduced life to life-style.
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

If . . . a laborer [in Jesus’ time] did not find work for several days, his family was destitute. In such circumstances the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer (“Give us today our bread for this day”) takes on a poignancy many of us no longer experience. It is a prayer for survival.
—David J. Bosch

The Lord’s Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel.
—Tertullian

Among all the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice.
—Miguel de Cervantes

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. 
—Simone Weil

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
—Rule of Benedict

Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
—Hebrews 13:2

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. 
—Simone Weil

A religious man is a person who holds God  and [humanity] in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.
—Abraham Joshua Heschel

A good work talked about is a good work spoiled.
—Vincent de Paul

Sometimes we don’t realize the blessings we have until we no longer have them. Appreciate all the blessings in your life. Take none for granted.
—Catherine Pulsifer

We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.
—Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.
—Anonymous

God is dangerous. God is a devouring fire. God has cast his eyes on you. . . . Take care, he is crafty, he begins with a little love, a small flame, and before you can realize it for what it is, he catches hold of you and you are taken.
—Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988)

As in the life of the body, a person who is born and becomes strong later requires food so that life may be preserved and sustained, so also in the spiritual life, a person, after being fortified, requires spiritual food, which is Christ’s Body.
—Thomas Aquinas