Pope John Paul II Quotes, Thoughts and images

Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.

I plead with you--never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.

The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being.

Do not forget that true love sets no conditions; it does not calculate or complain, but simply loves.

If you want peace, work for justice. If you want justice, defend life. If you want life, embrace truth.

Christian holiness does not being sinless, but rather it means struggling not to give in and always getting up after every fall.

Pray and learn to pray! Deepen your knowledge of the Word of the Living God by reading and meditating on the Scriptures.

A nation that destroys its own people is a nation without hope.

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it.

Have no fear of moving into the unknown.

Jesus Christ has taken the lead on the way of the cross. He has suffered first. He does not drive us toward suffering but shares it with us, wanting us to have life and to have it in abundance.

To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate the face of Christ with Mary.

Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say.

Faith leads us beyond ourselves. It leads us directly to God.

The only way to peace is forgiveness.

The Mother of Christ, who stands at the very center of this mystery...is given as mother to every single individual and all mankind.

God is Love. We eventually have to ask ourselves the question; why was Love nailed to a cross?

What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return

We must reflect the light of Christ through lives of prayer and joyful service to others.

Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men.

Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.

War should belong to the tragic past, to history: it should find no place on humanity's agenda for the future.

Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure.

There is no true peace without fairness, truth, justice and solidarity.

Once the truth is denied to human beings, it is pure illusion to try to set them free. Truth and freedom either go together hand in hand or together they perish in misery.

To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others.

The distinctive mark of the Christian, today more than ever, must be love for the poor, the weak, the suffering.

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.

Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.

The sickness of a family member, friend or neighbor is a call to Christians to demonstrate true compassion, that gentle and persevering sharing in another's pain.

To humanity, which sometimes seems to be lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, the risen Lord gives the gift of His love which forgives, reconciles and reopens the soul to hope.

The future is in your hearts and in your hands. God is entrusting to you the task, at once difficult and uplifting, of working with Him in the building of the civilization of love.

Mary is the sure path to our meeting with Christ. Devotion to the Mother of the Lord, when it is genuine, is always an impetus to a life guided by the spirit and values of the Gospel.