We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.

May God protect me from gloomy saints.

Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.

All things must come to the soul from its roots, from where it is planted.

Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.

For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.

To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.

I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.

The tree that is beside the running water is fresher and gives more fruit.

It is no small misfortune and disgrace that, through our own fault, we neither understand our nature nor our origin.

God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person.

Every creative person, and I think probably every other person, faces resistance when they are trying to create something good...The harder the resistance, the more important the task must be.

A leader that doesn't sympathize have a loose strings and a wicked heart.

One cannot be humble and aware of oneself at the same time.

A man with a good story is practically a king.

Everything I have to say has already crossed your mind.""Then possibly my answer has crossed yours.

I try to take people one at a time, with all the contradictions and compromises that most of us live with.

I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There's no shame in being tested for AIDS.

I always think that fashion isn't just about clothes; it can be applied to anything.

A good angel is only a dead angel.

How do you say 'bring me sausage and eggs or I'll slit your throat' in Italian?" "Look it up in the phrase book.