“In all ranks of life the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and the beautiful things that God makes are his gift to all alike
“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones
“How good is man's life, the mere living! How fit to employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever in joy!
“Since my earliest childhood a barb of sorrow has lodged in my heart. As long as it stays I am ironic, if it is pulled out I shall die
“The first pressure of sorrow crushes out from our hearts the best wine; afterwards the constant weight of it brings forth bitterness, the taste and strain from the lees of the vat
“Trust no future, however pleasant! Let the dead past bury its dead! Act, act in the living present! Heart within and God overhead
“Grief knits two hearts in closer bonds than happiness ever can; and common sufferings are far stronger links than common joys
“By the law of nature, there is no pleasure in suffering; but divine love, when it reigns in a heart, makes it take delight in its sufferings.
“The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept, in silence sealed; the thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, whose charms were broken if revealed
“The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration
“Kind hearts are the gardens, kind thoughts are the roots, kind words are the flowers, kind deeds are the fruits. Take care of your garden and keep out the weeds, fill it with sunshine, kind words and kind deeds
“One hearty laugh together will bring enemies into a closer communion of heart than hours spent on both sides in inward wrestling with the mental demon of uncharitable feeling.
“May you see God's light on the path ahead when the road you walk is dark. May you always hear, even in your hour of sorrow, the gentle singing of the lark. When times are hard may hardness never turn your heart to stone, may you always remember when the shadows fall— you do not walk alone
“It is no little wisdom for you to keep yourself in silence and in good peace when evil words are spoken to you, and to turn your heart to God and not to be troubled with the judgment of others
“Blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart, and which affords a complete outlet to all the forces there are in him.