All Quotes

"We have built an institution that transcends political boundaries and that binds us to one another in the true essence of service."

"As an island-nation, our country is very vulnerable to the grim effects of global warming that brings extreme weather. It’s hard to imagine what we as individuals can do to resolve a problem of this scale and severity, but all of us, should be proactive in preventing further degradation of our environment."

"Differences are not something to be resented because they add richness, depth, and texture to a marriage. Besides, every couple has areas of incompatibility but smart couples learn how to celebrate the similarities and leverage the differences in ways that say “I love you” and allow for discovery and new growth."

"We raised our eyes to Our Lady, who said to us with kindness and sadness: – You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is about to end, but if they do not cease offending God, another worse war will begin during the pontificate of Pius XI. [...] To prevent this, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If they accept My requests, Russia will convert and they will have peace; if not, it will spread its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be destroyed. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph."

"‘'Mary, Mother of Jesus, | give me your heart, | so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate, | so full of love and humility, | so that I may receive Jesus in the Bread of Life, | love Him as you loved Him | and serve Him under the guise of the poorest of the poor.’'"

"Let us turn to the Virgin Mary: her Immaculate Heart, a mother’s heart, has fully shared in the “compassion” of God, especially in the hour of the passion and death of Jesus. May Mary help us to be mild, humble and merciful with our brothers."

"‘'I embrace the cross, I want to die with you."

"E' piei conficti ti sonno scalone acciò che tu possa giognere al costato, il quale ti manifesta el segreto del cuore. Però che salito in su' piei de l'affecto, l'anima comincia a gustare l'affecto del cuore, ponendo l'occhio de l'intellecto nel cuore aperto del mio Figliuolo, dove truova consumato e ineffabile amore."

"May the adorable Heart of our beloved Jesus unite our hearts with His and with that of our heavenly Mother."

"(About saint Paola Frassinetti) The inner strength that led to live so fully the “folly” of the cross is to be found in her tender devotion to the Heart of Jesus Christ. With her authentically apostolic sensitivity, the saint perceived that no one can carry out a true apostolate unless they have the stigmata of Christ imprinted on their heart, unless that ineffable intertwining of love and pain that is summarized in the most sacred heart of Jesus is at work in them."

"I cannot express what I felt then when I thought of the immense love of the Heart of Jesus, there all alone, forgotten, cold, indifferent to souls, unhappy because of our insensitive nature regarding the abandonment of the Lord. And the gentle Master made me understand that this happened everywhere. It is precisely the insults, the ingratitude, the forgetfulness, and above all the lukewarmness of the consecrated, intimate friends, that wound Jesus in His Heart."

"Bring everyone a ray of the tenderness of the Heart of Jesus."

"Such devotion is the very essence of Salesianism, for it is from the Sacred Heart of our Master that we, as educators, will draw the purest love for youth, the gentleness and indulgence that must accompany our words and actions, patience in the adversities and tribulations connected with our task, the spirit of sacrifice and zeal for souls."

"Uniting ourselves with the pierced Heart of Jesus and wanting to live the passion of Christ involves the awareness that embracing the Cross is an essential condition for bringing forth life around us and not allowing death to prevail over it, hatred over love, division over communion."

"Let us turn, then, to the heart of Christ, that core of his being, which is a blazing furnace of divine and human love and the most sublime fulfilment to which humanity can aspire. There, in that heart, we truly come at last to know ourselves and we learn how to love."

"The problems do not lie with female sport and leisure, but with the ways in which the male world and male sport creates and defines the ideological and material conditions that prescribe the female world. As in so much of life, it is time to stand back and object to incremental integration into the male world. Sport, recreation and leisure have a different meaning for women; we should act on the basis of our interpretation."

"And I start to dream - about the activities of women for temperance and the suffrage in this country, and about the activism of women for peace and disarmament; and I wonder if our great-grandmothers would have believed suffrage would be almost universal, and if we dare to dream of a world without nuclear weapons, without weapons, with peace."

"Running in all weathers. Running to the place of work. Running to despair. Running through the bottom door of the old building directly to the bathroom to be sick. Every day the same, and no way to control it. Every day my body saying, 'I can't stomach this anymore.'"

"I am still afraid of getting too tired, of giving up. I am still afraid of staying in the job, and afraid of leaving it."

"I want women to be politically aware all the time, in every conscious moment, in everything they do; and at the same time I know how exhausting it is to be so aware. I know how frustrating it is to feel so powerless. I know how it is to feel defeated before you start. But I want women to progress to a point where they recognise all the politics in their lives, to a point where the awareness is instinctive and need not be excessive, and to a point where they learn to choose political priorities, and to know that often there is not enough energy left for more than a patient observing."

"Women instinctively have the potential for a broader consciousness of politics than men. Our lives are more varied and less circumscribed. We do more things at any one time, in spite of the common myths, and generally have more responsibility."

"Those who can move from understanding the concerns of lower-paid urban omen workers in desperate need of child care to understanding isolated rural women at the end of metal roads who want extensions to bus routes; from noticing the absence of Maori explorers and pioneers from our history syllabus to observing that the same history is a record of only 49 per cent of the New Zealand population - these people are exceptional humans and rare souls in politics. Wherever they are found, they are more likely to be women."

"Francesco did not seem to be Jacinta Marto's brother, except in his facial features and in the practice of virtue. He was not as capricious and lively as she was. On the contrary, he had a peaceful and accommodating character. [...] Unlike Giacinta, he did not show a passion for dancing; he preferred to play the flute while the other children danced. He was quite lively when playing games, but few enjoyed playing with him because he almost always lost. I myself confess that I had little sympathy for him, because his peaceful character sometimes irritated my overly lively nature."

"The little girl also loved to go out at dusk to the farmyard in front of our house to watch the beautiful sunset and the starry sky that followed. She was thrilled by the beautiful nights of the full moon. We challenged each other to see who could count the stars, which we called the angels' lamps. The moon belonged to Our Lady and the sun to the Lord. That is why Jacinta sometimes said: – I like Our Lady's lamp better because it does not burn us or blind us, whereas the Lord's does."

"Before the events of 1917, apart from the family ties that united us, no other particular affection made me prefer the company of Jacinta and Francisco to that of any other child. On the contrary, her company sometimes became quite unpleasant because of her overly sensitive character. The slightest issue, of the kind that arise among children when they play, was enough to make her sulk in a corner, imitating a mule, as we used to say. To get her back into the game, even the sweetest caresses that children can give in such situations were not enough. It was necessary to let her choose the game and the companion with whom she wanted to play. However, even at that time, she had a very kind heart, and God had blessed her with a sweet and tender character, which made her both lovable and attractive."

"I aspire to be an author, and a fair criticism, conducted without prejudice of sex, I am willing to submit to."

"The right, as thinking, reasoning beings, to decide for themselves what is best for their own happiness. If they were satisfied with man’s decision, this agitation for change would not be."

"And then how black, how bitter, how real the yoke it, none can know but those who feel it. What a risk there is in marriages! What a perilous step to take."

"I said that I did not think that women in any great numbers would ever concern themselves about politics, but I think those who have proved good queens regent and self-helpful women demonstrate the capacity that is in women for government."

"The real grievance must be that there are men who object to women having brains or daring to use them."

"...but let a woman once think and be daring enough to give the world the benefit of her thoughts, and great is the indignation of many who can witness quite approvingly all sorts of nonsensical acting in charades."

"To the other sex, to whose fault the existence of this terrible class of the community must be charged, are those who have the means; and though they claim to be the protectors of woman, the boast must be considered an empty one in many cases, since it is a notorious fact that fallen women find it easier to make a living than honest ones do."

"Only God remains. He is the only rock I can cling to so as not to be overwhelmed by the stormy waves in which I am floating."

"The truth is, any attempt to teach religion in public schools is an attempt to force our views on others; and, as all should be fairly considered in return for a tax that all must pay, I hope that strictly secular instruction during school hours will in all fairness be upheld in State schools."

"Wh-whoopsie-daisy! Steven, it's okay. I'm gonna be just—"

"Wait. Y-You need me! I'm the only one who knows about the…"

"Ha! I told her off, once. I can do it again. Hey! Yellow Clod! REMEMBER ME?!"

"Without introducing himself [to Mary], the Angel can therefore begin immediately with his greeting: ‘Hail, full of grace.’ In this first form of greeting, he immediately gives her the title that is due to her, as he has no doubt that she will accept everything. Without having said it, with her demeanour and her constant expectation of the path reserved for her by God, Mary has already said her yes. The angel can therefore continue: ‘The Lord is with you!’ She has not yet conceived the Lord, but he is already with her because he has chosen her as his Mother, and with the same certainty with which the angel now addresses his announcement to her, the Lord also knew that she would accept everything, even to have him as her Son."

"The Hail Mary has inspired poetry, painting, sculpture and music. In music, the Hail Mary sounded divine."

"Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Scritti vari, Morcelliana, 1995."

"Quann'ero ragazzino, | mamma mia me diceva: | Ricordati, fijolo, | quanno te senti veramente solo | tu prova a recità n'Ave Maria."

"More good can be done with a well-said Hail Mary than in the Mission field by neglecting one's duty."

"What art thou, Mary, thou who wilt presently bring forth? Whence hast thou merited, whence hast thou obtained this favor? Whence is it that He who made thee will be made in thee? Whence, I say, does this great gift come to thee? Thou art a virgin, thou art holy, thou hast vowed a vow. True, thou hast merited much; or better, thou hast received much. But how hast thou merited it? He who made thee is being made in thee. He is made in thee by whom thou thyself wast made; rather should I say, by whom heaven and earth were made, by whom all things were made; the Word of God is made flesh in thee, by taking flesh, not by losing divinity. The Word is joined to flesh; the Word is wedded to flesh, and the bridal chamber of this exalted marriage in thy womb. Let me repeat, the bridal chamber of this exalted marriage between the Word and flesh in thy womb, whence "he, the bridegroom, goes forth from his bridal chamber" (Ps. 18:6). He finds thee a virgin at His conception. He leaves thee a virgin at His birth. He gives thee fecundity. He takes not away thy integrity. Whence is this to thee? Perhaps I am too forward in asking such questions of a virgin and, I might say, somewhat rude in shocking thy bashful essay with such words. But I see a virgin who is indeed bashful, and yet one who can answer and at the same time put me in my place. "Dost thou ask of me whence is this? I blush to answer thy questions as to my blessedness. Rather, listen to the Angel's salutation... Believe him who I believed. Do you ask whence have I this favor? Let the Angel reply." Tell me, Angel, whence has Mary this?" I already said when I saluted her: 'Hail, full of grace'. ""

"And surely what joy, what delight can ever be found that far surpasses the announcement made to that blessed Virgin and Mother of joy? Rejoice, O mother of supernatural joy! Rejoice, O nourisher of sublime joy! Rejoice, capital seat of the joy of salvation! Rejoice, cooperator of immortal joy! Rejoice, O mystical dwelling place of ineffable joy! Rejoice, O most blessed source of inexhaustible joy! Rejoice, O treasure of eternal joy who bears God! Rejoice, O most luxuriant tree of life-giving joy!"

"Florence is the centre of the world. [The Dominican convent of] San Marco is the centre of Florence, and the Annunciation frescoed there by Beato Angelico is the centre of San Marco. Therefore, the Annunciation is the centre of the world."

"The Annunciation appears as a unique moment in the world history of women: it is the moment when God, taking women as free partners in his covenant, brings them true emancipation."

"The Annunciation is the beginning of a conception, something I wanted to compare to the creative process. As for iconography, Mary is usually depicted in an enclosed garden, a symbol of virginity, an inner, intimate space that I evoked through a red carpet."

"Our Lady has appeared and spoken to many visionaries from many nations and in the most varied circumstances, as a living person who promises, announces, praises, exhorts, prophesies, prays, guides and protects from danger, heals the sick, works miracles, weeps, invites conversion and penance, and helps people to draw closer to Christ, her Son."

"Why is it Our Lady who appears? Why did Jesus himself or some canonised saint not appear in Lourdes (as in Rue du Bac, La Salette, Pontmain, Beauraing, Fatima, to mention only the last century and a half and events approved by the Church)? But it is because – according to theology, as meditated upon by mystics – according to the Catholic Creed, “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed into heavenly glory 'in soul and body”. Thus, the words of the dogma of the Assumption, defined and proclaimed by Pius XII only in 1950 but believed, in its essence, since the time of the Fathers of the Church in both the East and the West (the feast of the “Dormition”, which has “in nuce” the Assumption of the Virgin Mother, is probably the oldest of the Marian feasts that unite the universal Church). In short, Mary, having carried in her womb the One who said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (Jn 11:25), followed her Son in his eternal destiny before any other human creature; she is the one who preceded us all, already welcomed into eternity ‘in soul and body’. Therefore, if she appears to mortals, it is also to remind us that what she already is, we too will be. In short, she is the sign and pledge, in her very person, of that salvation we were talking about, which will give us true health: the vision of Mary's body already “saved” is a guarantee that everyone's body will be saved."

"We must know that the most important thing about Mary's apparitions today, as always, is the fact that she is a Mother! Our Lady is a Mother who cares for her little ones with immense tenderness. She prays for us, blesses us and has incredible love for us."