This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone NULL
Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Attention | Deeds | Good | Heart | Lord | Obedience | Praise | Purpose | Purpose | Witness | World | Deeds |
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone NULL
The truly pure of heart are those who despise the things of earth and seek the things of heaven, and who never cease to adore and behold the Lord God living and true with a pure heart and soul.
Consciousness | Duty | Praise | Public |
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone NULL
Be conscious, O man, of the wondrous state in which the Lord God has placed you, for He created you and formed you to the image of His beloved Son according to the body, and to His likeness according to the spirit (cf. Gen. 1:26). And [yet] all the creatures under heaven, each according to its nature, serve, know, and obey their Creator better than you. And even the demons did not crucify Him, but you together with them have crucified Him and crucify Him even now by delighting in vices and sins.
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone NULL
Let us, therefore, have charity and humility and give alms because it washes the stains of our sins from our clothes. For people lose everything they leave behind in this world; but they carry with them the rewards of charity and the alms which they gave, for which they will have a reward and a just retribution from the Lord.
Beginning | Cause | Day | Desire | Eternal | Father | Good | Hope | Love | Nothing | Praise | Time | Blessed |
Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with Him continually, and you will not sin, will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you.
Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.
God | Praise | Providence | Wisdom | God |
Saint John of Kronstadt, fully John Il’ich Serguiev, aka Holy Father John of the Kronstadt NULL
Do not be irritated with those who sin; do not develop a habit of noticing every sin in others, and judging them, as we are so inclined to do. Everyone shall give an answer to God for himself. Correct your own sins; and amend your own heart.
Enemy | Fighting | Oppression | Praise |
Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value.
Our Sages were enemies of ignorance. They regarded education, intellectual enlightenment, and the acquisition of knowledge as the first of all moral commandments. They viewed the dissemination of intellectual enlightenment among all classes of the population as the prime concern of the nation, and the training of a child's mind as the first and most sacred duty of fatherhood. They considered it a matter of conscience for every Jewish father to see that his child should not remain a boor and am ha'arets; no Jewish child must be allowed to grow up as an ignorant, uneducated person.
Children | Evil | Fulfillment | Isolation | Nations | Need | Obligation | Order | People | Practice | Praise | Purpose | Purpose | Redemption | Vows | Torah |
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
Keeping accounts, Sir, is of no use when a man is spending his own money, and has nobody to whom he is to account. You won't eat less beef today, because you have written down what it cost yesterday.
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
The reciprocal civility of authors is one of the most risible scenes in the farce of life.
Praise |
By my soul, I can neither eat, drink, nor sleep; nor, what's still worse, love any woman in the world but her.
Simone de Beauvoir, fully Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir
It must feel wonderfully strange when, like Manette, one stands there, the only witness to a vanished world.
Aid | Authenticity | Comfort | Faith | Giving | Man | Praise | Truth | Unhappiness | War | Woman | Yielding | Victim |
Gregory Nazianzen, aka Saint Gregory of Nazianzus or Gregory the Theologian
To tell you plainly, I am determined to fly every convention of bishops; for I never yet saw a council that ended happily. Instead of lessening, they invariably augment the mischief. The passion for victory and the lust of power (you will perhaps think my freedom intolerable) are not to be described in words. One present as judge will much more readily catch the infection from others than be able to restrain it in them. For this reason, I must conclude that the only security of one’s peace and virtue is in retirement.
Gregory Nazianzen, aka Saint Gregory of Nazianzus or Gregory the Theologian
In the case of a ruler or leader it is a fault not to attain to the highest possible excellence, and always make progress in goodness, if indeed he is, by his high degree of virtue, to draw his people to an ordinary degree, not by the force of authority, but by the influence of persuasion. For what is involuntary apart from its being the result of oppression, is neither meritorious nor durable. For what is forced, like a plant violently drawn aside by our hands, when set free, returns to what it was before, but that which is the result of choice is both most legitimate and enduring.
Better | Despair | Disdain | Hope | Poverty | Praise | Wealth |
Thérèse de Lisieux, fully Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin NULL
Merit is not to be found in doing much or in giving much, but rather in receiving and in loving much. It is said that it is far sweeter to give than to receive, and this is true. But when Jesus wants for Himself the sweetness of giving, it would not be gracious to refuse. Let Him take and give whatever He wants.
Freedom | God | Knowing | Love | Peace | Praise | Soul | Trust | God | Child |