"It is difficult to realize that three years have elapsed since Your Holiness announced that you planned to convene an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church--the first in almost a hundred years. During these three fateful years, millions of my fellow citizens in the United States, including many who do not belong to the Catholic Church, have followed with lively and sympathetic interest the work of the various preparatory Commissions appointed by Your Holiness to draw up the agenda for this extraordinarily important Council. They have also read, with particular interest and with genuine admiration for your all-embracing concern for the welfare of humanity, the several inspiring statements issued by Your Holiness on the background and purposes of the Council."

"It is with great pleasure that I have learned of your election as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. I join with other Americans in extending my congratulations on your elevation to this high office. My best wishes for the success of your endeavors are, I am certain, shared by men of good will everywhere."

"[In Pope John XXIII] the novelty did not concern doctrine, but rather the way of expounding it and perhaps sometimes interpreting it, without ever betraying or modifying it. And of applying it to concrete situations. It then concerned, so to speak, the style, in speaking and acting, both inside and outside the Church: a greater readiness to understand the ‘other’; a charge of ‘sympathy’ in endeavouring to evaluate the mentality or attitudes of even those furthest away; an ability to be aware of their objective difficulties and the art of knowing how to create a climate of trust, despite the distance, or even the head-on opposition of reciprocal positions; the care not to offend people while telling the truth."

"When he was cardinal and patriarch of Venice, the future pope was talking with a wealthy city resident and told him, "You and I have one thing in common: money. You have a lot and I have nothing at all. The difference is I don't care about it.""

"Not long after he was elected pope, John was walking in the streets of Rome. A woman passed him and said to her friend, "My God, he's so fat!" Overhearing what she said, he turned around and replied, "Madame, I trust you understand that the papal conclave is not exactly a beauty contest.""

"When a cardinal complained that a rise in Vatican salaries meant a particular usher earned as much as the cardinal, the pope remarked: "That usher has 10 children; I hope the cardinal doesn't.""

"Visiting a hospital he asked a boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy said either a policeman or a pope. "I would go in for the police if I were you," the Holy Father said. "Anyone can become a pope, look at me!""

"[Pacem esse] dicimus in veritate positam, ad iustitiae praecepta constitutam, caritate altam et expletam, libertate postremo auspice effectam."

"John XXIII, when asked "How many people work in the Vatican?" replied, "Probably about half"."

"One of my favorite phrases that brings me great comfort: We are not on earth as museum keepers, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life and to prepare a glorious future. The Pope is dead. Long live the Pope!"

"Klopstock was questioned regarding the meaningof a passage in his poem. He replied, "God and I both knew what it meant once; now God alone knows.""

"Genius is one of the many forms of insanity."

"Unfortunately, goodness and honor are rather the exception than the rule among exceptional men, not to speak of geniuses."

""Lawsuit mania"… a continual craving to go to law against others, while considering themselves the injured party."

"The ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand."

"The appearance of a single great genius is more than equivalent to the birth of a hundred mediocrities."

"Good sense travels on the well-worn paths; genius, never. And that is why the crowd, not altogether without reason, is so ready to treat great men as lunatics."

"The visas came through in 1955, when I was 15. That June, we sailed for New York aboard the Conte Biancamano. When we passed the Statue of Liberty, Anna Maria [my sister] tried to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner"."

"When you are losing it can seem like there is a black cloud following you around, but like they say there is a silver lining in every cloud."

"Of course now that I am retired I see it from a totally different perspective, the bad days just don't look so bad to me, and I try to share that with Michael."

"The first time I fired up a car, felt the engine shudder and the wheel come to life in my hands, I was hooked. It was a feeling I can't describe. I still get it every time I get into a race car."