Virtues

"Let them learn first to show pity at home."

"Charity and treating begin at home."

"The demon of avarice, it seems to me, is extraordinarily complex and is baffling in his deceits. Often, when frustrated by the strictness of our renunciation, he immediately pretends to be a steward and a lover of the poor; he urges us to prepare a welcome for strangers who have not yet arrived or to send provisions for absent brethren. He makes us mentally visit prisons in the city and ransom those on sale as slaves. He suggests that we should attach ourselves to wealthy women, and advises us to be obsequious to others who have a full purse. And so, after deceiving the soul, little by little he engulfs it in avaricious thoughts and then hands it over to the demon of self-esteem."

"The bourgeoisie is charitable out of self-interest; it gives nothing outright, but regards its gifts as a business matter, makes a bargain with the poor, saying: "If I spend this much upon benevolent institutions, I thereby purchase the right not to be troubled any further, and you are bound thereby to stay in your dusky holes and not to irritate my tender nerves by exposing your misery. You shall despair as before, but you shall despair unseen.""

"You shall not turn away the needy, but shall share everything with your brother, and shall not say that it is your own, for if you are sharers in the imperishable, how much more in the things which perish?"

"The beginning of love of money is the pretext of almsgiving, and the end of it is hatred of the poor. So long as he is collecting he is charitable, but when the money is in hand he tightens his hold."

"When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us why."

"Do you wish to honor the Body of the Savior? Do not despise it when it is naked. Do not honor it in church with silk vestments while outside it is naked and numb with cold. He who said, “This is my body,” and made it so by his word, is the same that said, “You saw me hungry and you gave me no food. As you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me.” Honor him then by sharing your property with the poor. For what God needs is not golden chalices but golden souls."

"Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called."

"When a member of our physical body is diseased and the whole body has to labor to restore it to health, we do not despise this diseased member or hold it under obligation because it needs all this assistance."

"Without all doubt, charity to the poor is a direct and obligatory duty upon all Christians."

"Charity begins at home, is the voice of the world."

"He is rich who hath enough to be charitable; and it is hard to be so poor that a noble mind may not find a way to this piece of goodness."

"Th' Almighty said, 'Let there be light,' Effulgent rays appearing. Dispell'd the gloom, the glory bright To this new world was cheering... Another light, so clear and bright, In mystic rays then shone; From east to west it spread so fast, That, Faith and Hope unfurl'd, We hail with joy sweet Charity, The darling of the world."

"O proud philanthropist, your hope is vain To get by giving what you lost by gain."

"There will always be a large segment of civil society doing charitable work. They are much needed in a country like India which continues to see endemic and extreme poverty, diseases, and large populations without basic human needs."

"Who are the greedy? Those who are not satisfied with what suffices for their own needs. Who are the robbers? Those who take for themselves what rightfully belongs to everyone. And you, are you not greedy? Are you not a robber? The things you received in trust as a stewardship, have you not appropriated them for yourself? Is not the person who strips another of clothing called a thief? And those who do not clothe the naked when they have the power to do so, should they not be called the same? The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy. You are thus guilty of injustice toward as many as you might have aided, and did not."

""But whom do I treat unjustly," you say, "by keeping what is my own?" Tell me, what is your own? What did you bring into this life? From where did you receive it? It is as if someone were to take the first seat in the theater, then bar everyone else from attending, so that one person alone enjoys what is offered for the benefit of all in common — this is what the rich do. They seize before others have the opportunity, then claim them as their own by right of preemption. For if we all took only what was necessary to satisfy our own needs, giving the rest to those who lack, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, and no one would be in need."

"In charity there is no excess."

"Certainly it is a heaven upon earth to have a man's mind to move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth."

"If you see charity, you see the Trinity."

"So give to the poor; I'm begging you, I'm warning you, I'm commanding you, I'm ordering you."

"It must be said that charity can, in no way, exist along with mortal sin."

"Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship."

"No amount of money given in charity, nothing but the abandonment of this hateful trade, can atone for this great sin against God, Israel and Humanity."

"FIDELITY, n. A virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed."

"Loyal people never stab you in the back and a true lover never gets tired never grows bored never changes and never leaves no matter the circumstances surrounding him So do not give in or be humble to someone who insulted you do not yearn or long for someone who is cheap and do not knock on the door of someone who turned you down. Be arrogant do not be weak in front of someone who is against you be strong, and do not reveal your secrets There is no limit except for those who accept complaints. To God alone, be humble, but to the rest be strong, for the rope of interest is short even if it is long, and the rope of affection is long even if it is small Remember to treat the genuine person who will stand with you in your time of difficulty who does not ask you for a response or a reproach with kindness We do not sever family ties but we sever the malice of the relative and the stranger the bad companion and the two-faced We sever hatred envy lying, backbiting and gossip We sever those who say about us what is not in us and those who allow themselves to harm you even with a word, in our absence or presence."

"When the fight thickens the captain says, "Steady, boys;" and it is their steadiness which pulls the soldiers through. Fitful soldiers are rarely useful ones. That is our great need to-day, steady Christians — men and women you can count on. Many Christians are like intermittent springs. They flow to-day — to-morrow you cannot get a thimbleful of religious activity out of the dried channel of their lives."

"It is a good thing to follow Jesus with our eyes open. That is walking both by sight and faith. But it is better to follow Jesus blindly than not to follow at all."

"Precious Saviour! glorious Forerunner! oh, give us grace to follow Thee; and whenever tempted to relax our efforts, or loiter on our journey, or complain of the way, may we remember that Thou hast traveled every step of the way before us, and art now waiting to welcome us into Thy presence and glory."

"Let it be ours to be self-reliant amidst hosts of the vacillating — real in a generation of triflers — true amongst a multitude of shams; when tempted to swerve from principle, sturdy as an oak in its maintenance; when solicited by the enticement of sinners, firm as a rock in our denial."

"The root of all steadfastness is in consecration to God."

"Oh! it irradiates all our days with lofty beauty, and it makes them all hallowed and divine, when we feel that not the apparent greatness, not the prominence nor noise with which it is done, nor the external consequences which flow from it, but the motive from which it flowed, determines the worth of our deed in God's eyes. Faithfulness is faithfulness, on whatsoever scale it be set forth."

"God never gave a man a thing to do concerning which it were irreverent to ponder how the Son of God would have done it."

"If washed in Jesus' blood, Then bear His likeness too, And as you onward press Ask, "What would Jesus do?""

"Get into sympathy with Jesus. Seek His presence, seek His help. And walking through the world in His company, you will be as balm in the bleakest weather, a benediction in the wildest scene."

"Believing on Christ, learning of Christ, following Christ, — this is what it is to be a Christian. You must believe on Him that you may learn of Him. You must learn of Him that you may follow Him. But believing is nothing, and learning is less than nothing, if they do not result in faithful following."

"There are two paths in which the Christian follows Christ in this world, — paths which are always parallel, and which often merge into one, — the path of integrity, and the path of benevolence. In doing right and in doing good the Christian is a follower of Christ."

"Only be steadfast, never waver, Nor seek earth's favor, But rest; Thou knowest what God wills must be For all His creatures — so for thee — The best."

"If, after an absolute consecration to Him, and a conviction in conscience that He requires something of us, we hesitate, delay, lose courage, dilute what He would have us do, indulge fear for our comfort or safety, desire to shield ourselves from suffering and obloquy, or seek to find some excuse for not performing a difficult or painful duty, we are truly guilty in His sight."

"Never do what you cannot ask Christ to bless; and never go into any place or any pursuit in which you cannot ask Christ Jesus to go with you."

"Be but faithful, that is all; Go right on, and close behind thee There shall follow still and find thee Help, sure help."

"The secret of all our dryness, the root of all our weakness, our want of fruit and progress, our dearth and desolation, is, that we do not follow Christ. First, we do not believe that He has any particular care of us, or personal interest in our lives, and then, falling away at that point from His lead, we drop into ourselves, to do a few casual works of duty, in which neither we nor others are greatly blessed."

"To God, thy countrie, and thy friend be true."

"To be true to each other, let 'appen what maäy Till the end o' the daäy An the last loäd hoäm."

"You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant; But yet you draw not iron, for my heart Is true as steel."

"O, where is loyalty? If it be banish'd from the frosty head, Where shall it find a harbour in the earth?"

"Poscunt fidem secunda, at adversa exigunt."

"Pretio parata vincitur pretio fides."

"Pleas'd to the last he crops the flowery food, And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood."