All Quotes

"The country taxed itself with a new kind of tithe, and the children of Abruzzo had to feed themselves even less than before, to prevent the blond young men of Scotland and the giant blacks of South Africa from starving to death in the caves of Genzana."

"The freedom that must be loved is [...] the freedom of others. Only on this condition is the love of freedom not a selfish aspiration, but a moral idea, indeed the sole and exclusive content of moral experience."

"I’m renewing my personal commitment to consume more consciously, to buy less, repair more, and support brands that prioritize people and the planet"

"Anyone who looks through the telescope and sees things differently from me is always someone who can teach me a lot, and I will read it with the attitude of a disciple who wants to understand what is not yet clear to him; if I then discuss their conclusions, I will do so with the respect and gratitude we owe to those who have paved the way for us to go further, evaluating their approach retrospectively on the basis of their arguments, not a priori by comparing their conclusions with my own. This is the attitude that my teacher Guido Calogero taught me to call ‘the will to understand’ or ‘the spirit of dialogue’."

"Take Calogero, for example: secularism is a method of coexistence between all possible ideologies and philosophies, which must respect, as a primary rule, the principle that no one can claim to possess the truth."

"Of course, Catholics have a terrible habit: thinking about the power of modernity and ignoring how this modernity, insofar as it seeks to deny religious transcendence, is currently experiencing its greatest crisis, as recognized even by certain secular writers."

"(About the book of Simone Weil entitled The Need for Roots) Of course, one cannot expect the formal perfection of other writings, but that is simply because “it is a book,” whereas the natural expression of tragic consciousness, such as Weil's, is the aphoristic form."

"(About Dante Alighieri) Of course, one cannot expect the formal perfection of other writings, but that is simply because “it is a book,” whereas the natural expression of tragic consciousness, such as Weil's, is the aphoristic form."

"It is not that Dante intends to combat the cupiditas of the clergy in order to save the autonomy of the State; rather, “it is the struggle against cupiditas, the need to thoroughly permeate public life with religion, that leads him to distinguish between the orders.” In other words, the central point of his thinking, which leads him to overcome both Guelphism and Ghibellinism, is "the intuition of the concordance between the affirmation of the autonomy of the Empire, hitherto supported by heterodox thinkers, and that of the purification of the Church affirmed by spiritual writers," which is in line with what the best interpreter of Dante's philosophy, Étienne Gilson, defines as the singular and unique feature of his thought, irreducible to any source."

"Gilson criticizes attempts to trace Dante's position back to Thomism or Averroism. For St. Thomas, every hierarchy of dignity is at the same time a hierarchy of jurisdiction, while for Dante—except for God—a hierarchy of dignity is never the foundation of a hierarchy of jurisdiction, and this corresponds to Dante's specific philosophical problem, which is not so much to define the essence of philosophy as to determine functions and jurisdictions. The principle governing this determination is absolutely irreconcilable with Thomism. St. Thomas knows only one ultimate end: eternal bliss, which can only be attained through the Church; moreover, the spirituality of the ultimate end implies that between temporal and spiritual power there is a hierarchical subordination of the means to the end. For Dante, on the other hand, man can obtain, through the exercise of political virtues, a human happiness completely distinct from heavenly bliss, even if the latter represents a higher end. The thesis of the “duo ultima” legitimizes the complete distinction between the political order and the religious order, which is equally universal to that of the Church, but autonomous and pursuing an end of earthly happiness."

"The hierarchy of dignity must not be confused with the hierarchy of jurisdiction. Such confusion, far from being homage to the order established by God among things, is a violation of it: and it is this confusion that allows “cupiditas” to prevail, which in philosophy means the opposite of justice, and in theology means the will perverted by sin. Therefore, recognition of the autonomy of orders is the authentic form of respect for the order established by God, or for the sovereignty of God himself."

"The originality of Dante lies not so much in his affirmation of the autonomy of the state, but in the religious reason for which it is affirmed. This is the path to asserting the religiosity of politics and the religious meaning of secularism."

"[...] it is within the theology of original sin that the mutual autonomy of the Empire and the Church is understood."

"The theocratic ideal is based not only, as is often repeated, even by distinguished writers and by Maritain himself, on the unity of faith, but also on the medieval non-problematization (at least not experienced problematization) of faith as truth. The theocratic ideal is unfeasible today, and not only from a prudential point of view and taking into account the actual situation, as too many theologians and, behind them, too many Catholics think; but it is unfeasible for ideal and logical reasons, because the spiritual condition of the modern age is precisely the problematization of faith as truth (how truth can become my truth). The theocratic ideal is therefore not, at least in my view, the absolute ideal of Christian politics, but its specification in relation to the spiritual situation of the Middle Ages: even if the unity of faith were to be reconstituted, the theocratic ideal would no longer be feasible, because it would be a reconstruction of unity subsequent to its problematization."

"These days, I am writing an introduction to Monarchia by Dante. It is a work that contains some very interesting insights into current affairs, including what I believe to be an unsurpassable definition of “laity”."

""would absolutely have to look at options"."

"Depending on what we learn from AI . . . there may be an opportunity for BT to be even smaller by the end of the decade."

"our collective consumer choices can shift markets faster than any policy ever could"

"Reforestation and nature-based carbon projects led by local women’s cooperatives are severely underfunded"

"climate action is not charity, it’s creativity, courage, and community in motion"

"Nor is this world inhabited by man the first of things earthly created by God. He made several worlds before ours, but He destroyed them all, because He was pleased with none until He created ours. But even this last world would have had no permanence, if God had executed His original plan of ruling it according to the principle of strict justice. It was only when He saw that justice by itself would undermine the world that He associated mercy with justice, and made them to rule jointly. Thus, from the beginning of all things prevailed Divine goodness, without which nothing could have continued to exist. If not for it, the myriads of evil spirits had soon put an end to the generations of men."

"The whole of creation was called into existence by God unto His glory,” and each creature has its own hymn of praise wherewith to extol the Creator. Heaven and earth, Paradise and hell, desert and field, rivers and seas—all have their own way of paying homage to God. The hymn of the earth is, “From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, glory to the Righteous.”"

"When at last the assent of the angels to the creation of man was given, God said to Gabriel: “Go and fetch Me dust from the four corners of the earth, and I will create man therewith.” Gabriel went forth to do the bidding of the Lord, but the earth drove him away, and refused to let him gather up dust from it. Gabriel remonstrated: “Why, O Earth, dost thou not hearken unto the voice of the Lord, who founded thee upon the waters without props or pillars?” The earth replied, and said: “I am destined to become a curse, and to be cursed through man, and if God Himself does not take the dust from me, no one else shall ever do it.”"

"The purpose of the sleep that enfolded Adam was to give him a wife, so that the human race might develop, and all creatures recognize the difference between God and man. When the earth heard what God had resolved to do, it began to tremble and quake. “I have not the strength,” it said, “to provide food for the herd of Adam’s descendants.” But God pacified it with the words, “I and thou together, we will find food for the herd.”"

"Woman covers her hair in token of Eve's having brought sin into the world; she tries to hide her shame; and women precede men in a funeral cortege, because it was woman who brought death into the world. ... Adam was the heave offering of the world, and Eve defiled it. As expiation, all women are commanded to separate a heave offering from the dough. And because woman extinguished the light of man's soul, she is bidden to kindle the Sabbath light."

"The earth also had to suffer a tenfold punishment: independent before, she was hereafter to wait to be watered by the rain from above; sometimes the fruits of the earth fail; the grain she brings forth is stricken with blasting and mildew; she must produce all sorts of noxious vermin; thenceforth she was to be divided into valleys and mountains; she must grow barren trees, bearing no fruit; thorns and thistles sprout from her; much is sown in the earth, but little is harvested; in time to come the earth will have to disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain; and, finally, she shall, one day, “wax old like a garment.”"

"Abel selected the best of his flocks for his sacrifice, but Cain ate his meal first, and after he had satisfied his appetite, he offered unto God what was left over, a few grains of flax seed. As though his offense had not been great enough in offering unto God fruit of the ground which had been cursed by God! What wonder that his sacrifice was not received with favor! Besides, a chastisement was inflicted upon him. His face turned black as smoke. Nevertheless, his disposition underwent no change, even when God spoke to him thus: “If thou wilt amend thy ways, thy guilt will be forgiven thee; if not, thou wilt be delivered into the power of the evil inclination. It coucheth at the door of thy heart, yet it depends upon thee whether thou shalt be master over it, or it shall be master over thee.”"

"The sheep, which had been left unmolested by the queen of Sheba, were taken away by the Chaldeans. Job's first intention was to go to war against these marauders, but when he was told that some of his property had been consumed by fire from heaven, he desisted, and said, "If the heavens turn against me, I can do nothing.""

"The sea said to the earth, “Take thy children unto thyself,” and the earth retorted, “Keep those whom thou hast slain.” The sea hesitated to do as the earth bade, for fear that God would demand them back on the day of judgment; and the earth hesitated, because it remembered with terror the curse that had been pronounced upon it for having sucked up Abel’s blood. Only after God swore an oath, not to punish it for receiving the corpses of the Egyptians, would the earth swallow them.”"

"I am confident that household gender norms will change over time. From my perspective, a lot of men are realising that by allowing their wives to work, they can ease the financial burden of being the only provider"

"Once men realise their wives can earn an income for something she is already doing for free in the house, they become the ones vouching for women to get jobs. Once husbands and their wives are both working, it gives them more time to spend with their children, given their financial constraints lessen. This empowers everyone in the household ."

"The impact of household air pollution, especially in rural areas, is not well understood"

"To truly scale impact, we need policymakers and governments involved to drive broader awareness and education"

"Government support through policy could accelerate progress"

"If you have a solution for Africa, for the environment, for people - let people know, and allow yourself to get the support you need"

"Climate solutions that don’t reach the poorest communities are incomplete"

"Climate justice must mean that no one is left breathing smoke, living in darkness, or paying the price for a crisis they didn’t create."

"This new generation is redefining what leadership looks like and proving that the solutions we need already exist where the problems are most urgent"

"Stop talking about inclusion, fund it"

"We don’t need more pledges; we need partnerships that trust local capacity and channel resources to where they will save both lives and the planet"

"We want to protect the environment as well as the health of our local communities"

"Young people are creating solutions, they're advocating for us to protect our environment and I encourage them to keep doing that and coming up with fresh ideas"

"What excites me most is their ability to rethink challenges as opportunities, whether it’s turning waste into energy, creating new livelihoods, or designing technologies rooted in local realities"

"When given trust and investment, they not only participate in the green economy but also have the power to redefine it and position Africa as a global leader in sustainable innovation"

"The inspiration came from a very personal place"

"I’ve seen so many smart, practical solutions remain stuck at the community level, not because they don’t work, but because the people behind them aren’t trusted or supported enough to scale"

"Africa doesn’t lack innovation; it just needs more trust and support to let that innovation flourish"

"Friendship is like money, easier made than kept."

"As a people, we must make a choice now, between life and death, between health and wealth and between stability and unhappiness. We must find a balance between our pleasure and daily freedom on the one hand and the survival and self preservation of our society on the other hand."

"Our administration took a major step towards cushioning the impact of COVID19 on our citizens. We have cut taxes and waived fees and have instituted other reliefs to make this period much more easier to bear."