Saint Francis De Sales quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Saint Francis De Sales

Saint Francis De Sales Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Saint Francis De Sales on Wise Famous Quotes.

Hell is full of good intentions and wills.

We may be excused for not always being bright, but we are not excused for not being gracious, yielding and considerate.

Friendships begun in this world will be taken up again, never to be broken off.

A quarrel between friends, when made up, adds a new tie to friendship.

Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.

Better make penitents by gentleness than hypocrites by severity.

True humility scarcely ever utters words of humility.

Every vocation becomes more agreeable when united with devotion.

For every great temptation there will be many small ones. Wolves and bears are more dangerous than flies, but we are bothered most by flies.

We must fear God out of love, not love Him out of fear.

There is nothing small in the service of God.

Consider all the past as nothing, and say, like David: Now I begin to love my God.

Those who pray from the heart do not think about the prayer they are saying, but about the God to whom they pray.

Let us think only of spending the present day well. Then when tomorrow shall have come, it will be called today, and then we will think about it.

Be not miserable about what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father, who cares for you today, will care for you tomorrow.

It is to those who have the most need of us that we ought to show our love more especially.

Anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall a soul, except sin. God commands you to pray, but He forbids you to worry.

You can attract more bees with a spoonful of sugar than a cupful of vinegar.

We have freedom to do good or evil; yet to make choice of evil, is not to use, but to abuse our freedom.

He who complains, sins.

I have the same opinion of dances that physicians have of mushrooms: the best of them are good for nothing.

He prays well who is so absorbed with God that he does not know he is praying.

The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.

There is no better means of attainment to the spiritual life Than by continually beginning again ...

I have made a pact with my tongue, not to speak when my heart is disturbed.

Make sickness itself a prayer.

It is right that you should begin again every day. There is no better way to complete the spiritual life than to be ever beginning it over again.

Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.

Though perseverance does not come from our power, yet it comes from within our power.

Nothing appeases an enraged elephant so much as the sight of a little lamb.

Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire.

You learn to love by loving.

A judicious silence is always better than truth spoken without charity.

God requires a faithful fulfillment of the merest trifle given us to do, rather than the most ardent aspiration to things to which we are not called.

He who stays not in his littleness, loses his greatness.

Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly.

Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it.

I recommend to you holy simplicity.

Every morning prepare your soul for a tranquil day.

It is better to remain silent than to speak the truth ill-humoredly, and spoil an excellent dish by covering it with bad sauce.

Mount Calvary is the academy of love.

The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not "What a lovely sermon!" but "I will do something."

One rarely does well what one rarely does.

Pride dies 20 minutes after death.

To live according to the spirit is to love according to the spirit.

Trouble that is easily recognized is half-cured.

Faith fills a man with love for the beauty of its truth, with faith in the truth of its beauty

Big fires flare up in a wind, but little ones are blown out unless they are carried in under cover.

Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.

Humor is the foundation of reconciliation.

By giving yourself to God, You not only receive Himself in exchange, but eternal life as well.

There is nothing as strong as tenderness, And nothing as tender as true strength.

One single act done with aridity of spirit is worth more than many done with feelings of devotion.

God will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue.

Be who you are and do that well.

Since God often sends us inspirations by means of His angels, we should frequently return our aspirations to him by means of the same messengers.

A spoon full of honey gets more flies than a barrel full of vinegar.

A good discourse is that from which nothing can be retrenched without cutting into the quick.

While I am busy with little things, I am not required to do greater things.

Every Christian needs a half-hour of prayer each day, except when he is busy, then he needs an hour.

We can never attain to perfection while we have an affection for any imperfection.

Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily.

The Devil doesn't fear austerity but holy obedience.

Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God.

We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day.

Flowers often grow more beautifully on dung-hills than in gardens that look beautifully kept.

Is it not a great temptation to be so valiant in imagination and so cowardly in execution?

A dance is the devil's procession, and he that entereth into a dance, entereth into his possession.

The Lord delights in every little step you take.

Nothing is more like a wise man than a fool who holds his tongue.

It matters little how one begins, provided that he be resolved to go on well, and to end well.

Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will.

The spirit cannot endure the body when overfed, but, if underfed, the body cannot endure the spirit.

Cook the truth in charity until it tastes sweet.

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.

There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.

It is a great imperfection to complain unceasingly of little things.

All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be.

Let God be the air in which your heart breathes at ease.

The state of marriage is one that requires more virtue and constancy than any other; it is a perpetual exercise in mortification.

Doing little things with a strong desire to please God makes them really great.

By turning your eyes on God in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with God. Begin all your prayers in the presence of God.

Faith is like a bright ray of sun light. It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.

Take care of your health, that it may serve you to serve God.

Let us be what God likes, so long as we are His, and let us not be what we want to be, if it is against his intention.

In everything, love simplicity.

Provided that God be glorified, we must not care by whom.

What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could?

Humility makes our lives acceptable to God, meekness makes us acceptable to men.

He who can preserve gentleness amid pains, and peace amid worry multitude of affairs, is almost perfect.

There are no galley-slaves in the royal vessel of divine love - every man works his oar voluntarily!

What we need is a cup of understanding, a barrel of love, and an ocean of patience.

We are sometimes so busy being good angels that we neglect to be good men and women.

Souls do not wish to be bullied, but gently brought back; such is the nature of man.

Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others, and talk to God.

Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne well those laid on you; it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while unable to bear an insult patiently.

To love our neighbor in charity is to love God in man.