Those seven years in the cloister were the key to my life.

It's not enough to attend church and pray every Sunday; you have to act.

A smile costs less than electricity, but gives much light .

Illness has always brought me nearer to a state of grace.

When they are assailed by despair, young people should let universal concerns into their lives.

It's true that humanity has seen a succession of crises, wars and atrocities, but this negative side is offset by advances in technology and cultural exchanges.

I came from a wealthy family. I made over my share of the estate to various charities.

After the war, prompted by the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, I entered Parliament so that a priest could speak out for the poor, as canon law at that time still permitted.

My family background was deeply Christian.

The process of my transformation came to a head with my discovery of St. Francis of Assisi during a pilgrimage I went on with a scout troop from my school.

People are needed to take up the challenge, strong people, who proclaim the truth, throw it in people's faces, and do what they can with their own two hands.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

There is always something beautiful to hope for. Always have a goal to shoot for.

I grew up in a middle-class house without books, without art. No one around me wrote poetry or even read it.

We need a transformation of the world economy and of how we use and share the Earth's resources. We are running out of time. We are truly at the point of no return.

Things would get difficult again. But that was okay too. The bravery was in moving forward, no matter what.

Listening is a reciprocal process - we become more attentive to others if they have attended to us.

Esteem must be founded on some sort of preference. Bestow it on everybody and it ceases to have any meaning at all.

Institutions mistake good intentions for objectives. They say "health care"; that's an intention, not an objective.

If the intention is unclean, the deed that follows from it will also be evil, even if it seems good.

The truth is this: the Earth cannot provide enough food and fresh water for 10 billion people, never mind homes, never mind roads, hospitals and schools.