“This grace of God working in the very interior of our will is irresistible. But, Augustine argued, it does not take away our freedom, for the acts it elicits from our will are elicited with our consent. Only those who receive this grace are saved; those who do not are damned. Why some receive it and others do not is a mystery hidden in the inscrutable justice of God–the mystery of predestination.”
Thomas Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church
“Don’t worry about genius and don’t worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is ‘Don’t grumble. Plug on'”
“You should hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers– like the man who swaggers- has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.”
“Love the sea, the ringing beach and the open downs.”
“Keep clean, body and mind.”
– Sir Frederick Treves
“But these scars were cut in a Christian combat. They are, assuredly, efficacious in the sight of Christ, since a desire for victory won them, and so, they too are worthy of honor because it was only in not overcoming that they were overcome. The very devil himself regards them with dismay. They have experienced misfortune, but they are chaste. In the performance of penance they grieve before the Lord but they do not blush. They will be forgiven once again because in their apostasy they made reparation. In their case, only, may we say: the flesh is weak. But Flesh which overcomes the Spirit-there is none so strong as that!”
– Ancient Christian Philosopher Tertullian on purity