Saint Francis de Sales Quotes, Thoughts and Images

Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily.

Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.

Faith is like a bright ray of sun light. It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.

Be who you are and be that well.

Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections.

I have made a pact with my tongue, not to speak when my heart is disturbed.

Doing little things with a strong desire to please God makes them really great.

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.

The state of marriage is one that requires more virtue and constancy than any other; it is a perpetual exercise in mortification.

The Lord delights in every little step you take.

One rarely does well what one rarely does.

We may be excused for not always being bright, but we are not excused for not being gracious, yielding and considerate.

Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.

Humor is the foundation of reconciliation.

Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.

For every great temptation there will be many small ones. Wolves and bears are more dangerous than flies, but we are bothered most by flies.

Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly.

Every morning prepare your soul for a tranquil day.

Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself.

It is right that you should begin again every day. There is no better way to complete the spiritual life than to be ever beginning it over again.

The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.

A judicious silence is always better than truth spoken without charity.

Let the enemy rage at the gate; let him knock, pound, scream, howl; let him do his worst. We know for certain that he cannot enter our soul except by the door of our consent.

Truly it is a blessed thing to love on earth as we hope to love in Heaven, and to begin that friendship here which is to endure for ever there.

Let us think only of spending the present day well. Then when tomorrow shall have come, it will be called today, and then we will think about it.

Have patience with all things, But, first of all with yourself.

Those who pray from the heart do not think about the prayer they are saying, but about the God to whom they pray.

There is nothing small in the service of God.

It is to those who have the most need of us that we ought to show our love more especially.

God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.