"Harshness towards individuals who flout the laws and commands of state is for the public good; no greater crime against the public interest is possible than to show leniency to those who violate it."

Cardinal Richelieu, qtd. Champlain's Dream

"Public education has not produced an educated public."

G.K. Chesterton

"We women are slow and need instruction in everything."

St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, First Mansions, Chapter II

"He who prays is certainly saved. He who prays not is certainly damned."

St. Alphonsus, A Treatise on Prayer

"By fasting of the body we are prepared for spiritual feasting."

St. Jerome, Commentary on Matthew 9:15

"Let us take care lest we be like those of whom it is written: 'The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil' (John 3:19). Of what use to me is a light that reveals only my ugliness and shame? Retire from me, Light; I cannot endure you. Holy doctrine of the Gospel, eternal truth, all-too-faithful mirror: you make me tremble! We cannot change the truth; let us then change ourselves."

Bp. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Meditations for Lent

"When the curtain of our life goes down, we will not be asked what role we played; we will only be asked how well we played the role that was assigned to us."

Ven. Fulton Sheen, A Catholic Catechism, Lesson 50: World, Soul, and Things

St. Philip Neri, seeing a criminal being led to his death on the scaffold, exclaimed, "Except for the grace of God, there goes Philip Neri!"

"The Old Testament is radio: we hear the voice of God but do not see Him. The New Testament is television: where we not only hear but see God."

Ven. Fulton Sheen, A Catholic Catechism, Lesson 50: World, Soul, and Things

"He who desires to die well must live well."

St. Robert Bellarmine, The Art of Dying Well, Bk. 1, Ch. 1

"You cannot be certain of living for another hour, and you say: 'I will go to confession tomorrow.' Listen to the words of St. Gregory: 'He who has promised pardon to penitents has not promised tomorrow to sinners' (Hom. xii. in Evan). God has promised pardon to all who repent; but he has not promised to wait till tomorrow for those who insult him."

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Sermon XV: On the Number of Sins beyond which God Pardons No More

"Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His Providence."

Rev. James J. McGovern, The Manual Of The Holy Catholic Church, Volume 2, Ch. XV

"You will more easily recall a hundred men from error than one woman."

Rev. Alfonso de Castro OFM, Against All Heresies, Ch. XIII

"The road of faith runs truly between two heresies, just as virtue keeps on the center line between vices. For virtue consists in preserving the due balance of things, and by doing too much or too little man falls from virtue. In the same way, he who holds either more or less than the truth falls into error; but truth is the center line of faith."

St. Thomas, An Apology for Religious Orders, Capitulum 4, Respondeo

"St. Catherine of Genoa used to say that she did not love God for the sake of His gifts, but that she loved the gifts of God in order that she might love Him the more."

St. Alphonsus, The Complete Ascetical Works of St. Alphonsus, vol. 2, pgs. 317-318

"Let women keep silence in the churches [1 Cor 14:34].
1. Because it is against the order of nature and of the Law, in Genesis 3:16, for women, who have been made subject to men, to speak in their presence.
2. Because it is opposed to the modesty and humility which befits them.
3. Because man is endowed with better judgment, reason, discursive power, and discretion than woman.
4. She is rightly bidden, says S. Anselm, to keep silence, because when she spoke it was to persuade man to sin (Genesis 3:6).
5. To curb her loquacity, for, as it is said, 'when two women quarrel it is like the beating of two cymbals or the clanging of two bells.' This might readily enough happen in the church if they were allowed to teach."

Cornelius à Lapide SJ, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:34

"The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the lightnings of Divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God's glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe."

Pope Benedict XIV, Non Ambigimus

"Fly as much as possible the conversation of women. If necessity compel you sometimes to it, hold your eyes cast down on the ground; and, when you have spoken as little as may be required, immediately fly away."

St. Isidore of Pelusium, Epistle 284, qtd. Meditations

"No one has ever attained to the apex of spiritual perfection unless he regards his body as a mere servant of the soul—a beast of labor, which must be tamed, subdued, and commanded."

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, qtd. Meditations on the Holy Angels, pg. 86

"St. Ignatius directed his disciples according to the maxim that more prudence and less piety is better than more piety and less prudence."

Lord Acton, Lectures on Modern History, Lecture V: The Counter-Reformation