Daily quotes on developing virtue from Saints, Popes and others.
"In simple justice we owe Him all our thoughts and words and actions. Let us see to it that we pay our debt." Source: Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God and The Spiritual Maxims
"Direct your zeal, therefore, first upon yourself; then you may with justice exercise it upon those about you. You are well versed in coloring your own actions with excuses which you will not accept from others, though it would be more just to accuse yourself and excuse your brother." Source: Thomas a’ Kempis, The [...]
"Love proves itself by deeds, and how shall I prove mine? The little child will scatter flowers whose fragrant perfume will surround the royal throne, and in a voice that is silver-toned, she will sing the canticle of love… I can prove my love only by scattering flowers, that is to say, by never letting [...]
"Prayer ought to be not only the grace of our sanctification, but its principal exercise, the virtue of virtues. By it you will have the virtues of your state, because, being a virtue which has God for immediate object, it attracts the other virtues after it and makes use of them to exercise itself." [...]
"For the person who is truly humble is always doubtful about his own virtues; very often they seem more genuine and of greater worth when he sees them in his neighbors." Source: Saint Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, Dover Thrift Editions, 2012.
"God said, 'This is that sin which is never forgiven, now or ever: the refusal, the scorning, of my mercy. For this offends me more than all the other sins they have committed. So the despair of Judas displeased me more and was a greater insult to my Son than his betrayal had been.'" -St. [...]
"Are we never, then, to judge our neighbor? you ask. Never, my child. It is God Who judges criminals brought before a court of law." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"To define humility: Humility is a virtue by which a man has a low opinion of himself because he knows himself well. This is the virtue that belongs to those who have set their hearts to the climb and have gone from virtue to virtue, from step to step, until they reached the highest peak [...]
"Let us take a look at the pre-Christian world… Eros was thus celebrated as divine power, as fellowship with the Divine… The Old Testament firmly opposed this form of religion, which represents a powerful temptation against monotheistic faith, combating it as a perversion of religiosity. But it in no way rejected eros as such; rather, [...]
"Ah! why do we not place our perfection in prayer? Why do we not direct our studies, our virtues, to increase the state and the practice of prayer in ourselves? We employ our time and our graces in correcting some defects; but even should we not leave a single one, we must not pause there, [...]