Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
Blaise PascalRead
The sum of a man's problems come from his inability to be alone in a silent room.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that many of our troubles stem from our discomfort with solitude and silence.
Blaise Pascal's quote highlights the idea that an individual's inner turmoil often arises from a fear of being alone with their thoughts. In a world filled with distractions, many people struggle to confront their own emotions and reflections in silence, leading to a myriad of personal problems. It serves as a reminder to embrace solitude as a pathway to self-discovery and clarity.
In practice
During a workshop on mindfulness, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of solitude for mental health.
Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
If we submit everything to reason our religion will be left with nothing mysterious or supernatural. If we offend the principles of reason our religion will be absurd and ridiculous . . . There are two equally dangerous extremes: to exclude reason, to admit nothing but reason.
Those are weaklings who know the truth and uphold it as long as it suits their purpose, and then abandon it.
Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.
If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him Until he understands That he is a monster that passes all understanding.
What use is it to us to hear it said of a man that he has thrown off the yoke that he does not believe there is a God to watch over his actions, that he reckons himself the sole master of his behavior, and that he does not intend to give an account of it to anyone but himself?
Different hearts beat on different strings
Everything in life depends on how that life accepts its limits.
This life is not real. I conquered the world and it did not bring me satisfaction.
The priestly vocation is essentially a call to sanctity, in the form that derives from the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Sanctity is intimacy with God; it is the imitation of Christ, poor, chaste and humble; it is unreserved love for souls and self-giving to their true good; it is love for the church which is holy and wants us to be holy, because such is the mission that Christ has entrusted to it. Each one of you must be holy also in order to help your brothers pursue their vocation to sanctity.
Memory is a code to who we are, a collection of not just dates and facts but also of epic emotional struggles, epiphanies, transformations.
Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
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