Great Throughts Treasury

"The principal end both of my father and of myself in the conquest of India... has been the propagation of the holy Catholic faith."

"The safest and most suitable form of penance seems to be that which causes pain in the flesh but does not penetrate to the bones, that is, which causes suffering but not sickness. So the best way seems to be to scourge oneself with thin cords which hurt superficially, rather than to use some other means which might produce serious internal injury."

"The enemy is like a woman, weak in face of opposition, but correspondingly strong when not opposed. In a quarrel with a man, it is natural for a woman to lose heart and run away when he faces up to her on the other hand, if the man begins to be afraid and to give ground, her rage, vindictiveness and fury overflow and know no limit."

"The shortest, yea, the only way to reach sanctity, is to conceive a horror for all that the world loves and values."

"There are two guarantees of a wise rule of conduct: the though before action, and self-command afterward."

"To give, and not to count the cost to fight, and not to heed the wounds, to toil, and not to seek for rest, to labor, and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will."

"True, I am in love with suffering, but I do not know if I deserve the honor."

"We should always be prepared so as never to err to believe that what I see as white is black, if the hierarchic Church defines it thus."

"You wish to reform the world: reform yourself, otherwise your efforts will be in vain."

"We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierarchy of the Church so decides"

"Your heart is not so narrow that the world can satisfy it entirely; nothing but God can fill it."