"No work done with impetuosity and excitement was ever well done, and the old proverb 'Make haste slowly' is a good one." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"Therefore, my daughter, be careful and diligent in all your affairs; God, Who commits them to you, wills you to give them your best attention; but strive not to be anxious and solicitous, that is to say, do not set about your work with restlessness and excitement, and do not give way to bustle and [...]
"When we judge our own heart guilty, if we treat it gently, rather in a spirit of pity than anger, encouraging it to amendment, its repentance will be much deeper and more lasting than if stirred up in vehemence and wrath." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., [...]
"All this anger and irritation against one’s self fosters pride, and springs entirely from self-love, which is disturbed and fretter by its own imperfections. What we want is a quiet steady, firm displeasure at our own faults." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002. [...]
"The holy Chrism, used by the Church according to apostolic tradition, is made of olive oil mingled with balm, which, among other things, are emblematic of two virtues very specially conspicuous in our Dear Lord Himself, and which He has specially commended to us, as though they, above all things, drew us to Him and [...]
"You will ask how to put away anger. My child, when you feel its first movements, collect yourself gently and seriously, not hastily or with impetuosity." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"Let us foster all our virtues, my daughter, because they are pleasing to God, the Chief Aim of all we do." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"Again, there are abject and honorable virtues; for the world generally despises patience, gentleness, simplicity, and even humility itself, while, on the contrary, it highly esteems prudence, valor, and liberality." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"Humility might make us indifferent even to a good reputation, were it not for Charity’s sake; but seeking that it is a groundwork of society, and without it we are not merely useless but positively harmful to the world, because of the scandal given by such a deficiency, therefore Charity requires, and humility allows, us [...]
"Nevertheless, there is a difference between humility and abjection; for abjection is the poverty, vileness, and littleness which exist in us, without our taking heed to them; but humility implies a real knowledge and voluntary recognition of that abjection. And the highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one’s abjection, but in taking [...]