We put pride into everything like salt. We like to see that our good works are known. If our virtues are seen, we are pleased; if our faults are perceived, we are sad. I remark that in a great many people; if one says anything to them, it disturbs them, it annoys them. The saints were not like that - they were vexed if their virtues were known, and pleased that their imperfections should be seen.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the contrast between human pride in virtue and the humility seen in true saints regarding their imperfections.
In this quote, John Vianney reflects on the nature of pride and humility. He points out that most people take pride in their virtues and seek recognition for their good deeds, while feeling upset when their faults are noticed. In contrast, he suggests that true saints are inclined to remain humble, finding discomfort in the acknowledgment of their virtues while being accepting of their flaws. This serves as a reminder that genuine humility involves recognizing and embracing one's imperfections over seeking validation for one's strengths.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a discussion on humility at a church service.
Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that.
Oh, how I like those little mortifications that are seen by nobody, such as rising a quarter of an hour sooner, rising for a little while in the night to pray!
The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the difficulties of existence; but an invitation to enter fully into that difficult existence, and there apply the Charity of God and bear the cost.
Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. [Omnes relinquite spes, o vos intrantes]
In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.
These virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions ... The good of man is a working of the soul in the way of excellence in a complete life.
Debt is a prolific mother of folly and of crime.
The man who spends his time choosing one resort after another in a hunt for peace and quiet will in every place he visits find something to prevent him from relaxing.
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