Saint Ignatius Quotes

After many years of great mercy, after tasting of the powers of the world to come, we still are so weak, so foolish; but, oh! when we get away from self to God, there all is truth and purity and holiness, and our heart finds peace, wisdom, completeness, delight, joy, victory.

Money can come and go, and fame comes and goes. Peace of mind and a relationship with God is far more important, so this is the precedent that we've set in our lives. The bottom line is, we all die, so Jesus is the answer.

To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the end.

God comes first - if I don't love him, I can't love anybody, and if I can't love me I can't love nobody.

My dream is to live a good life and be loving, be close to God and be a good human being and bring peace to people.

The man who seeks to please God is the man who people are pleased with. The man who seeks to please others won't satisfy anyone.

Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus with thy hand!

Plant the love of the holy ones within your spirit; don't give your heart to anything, but the love of those whose hearts are glad.

None of us feels the true love of God till we realize how wicked we are. But you can't teach people that - they have to learn by experience.

We must accept all of God's will for us, not just those portions that happen to appeal and bring instant gratification and pleasure to us.

Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ.

'Doing your own thing' and being a Christian is an oxymoron. As Christians, every day we need to be presenting ourselves before the Lord, thanking Him for His mercy and asking Him to make us more like Him by emptying us of our will, so God's will can be done.

Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day.

Often devotion to virtue arises from sated desire.

I can love a person in this life only insofar as he tries to advance in the praise and service of God our Lord; for the man who loves anything for itself and not for the sake of God, does not love God with his whole heart.

Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you.

Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we have only to be still to experience.

We should always look upon ourselves as God's servants, placed in God's world, to do his work; and accordingly labour faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

It is certain that, because the negligent do not struggle against self, they never achieve peace of soul or do so tardily, and never possess any virtue in its fullness, while the energetic and industrious make notable advances on both fronts.

Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly.

That peace which is within us, we must experience it. And if we are searching for peace outside we will never find the peace within.

No one can find inner peace except by working, not in a self- centered way, but for the whole human family.

Of how much real happiness we cheat our souls by preferring a trifle to God! We have a general intention of living religion; but we intend to begin tomorrow or next year. The present moment we prefer giving to the world.

The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself.