De Sales Quotes & Sayings

Oppose vigorously any tendency to sadness ... You must persevere. By means of sorrow the enemy tries to make us weary of good works, but if he sees that we don't give them up and that being done in spite of his opposition they have become very meritorious, he will stop troubling us. — Francis De Sales

There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust. — Saint Francis De Sales

By giving yourself to God, You not only receive Himself in exchange, but eternal life as well. — Saint Francis De Sales

Lately I was near the beehives and some of the bees flew onto my face. I wanted to raise my hand, and brush them off. 'No,' said a peasant to me, 'do not be afraid, and do not touch them. They will not sting you at all, if you touch them they will bite you.' I trusted him; not one bit me. Trust me; do not fear these temptations. Do not touch them; they will not hurt you. — Francis De Sales

He who stays not in his littleness, loses his greatness. — Saint Francis De Sales

God is merciful to those who want to love Him and who have placed their hopes in Him. — Francis De Sales

The body is poisoned through the mouth, even so is the heart through the ear ... And even if we do mean no harm, the Evil One means a great deal, and he will use those idle words as a sharp weapon against some neighbor's heart. — Francis De Sales

Be not miserable about what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father, who cares for you today, will care for you tomorrow. — Saint Francis De Sales

Stretch out your hand to Him like a little child to his father so that He may lead you on. — Francis De Sales

Examine your heart often to see if it is such toward your neighbor as you would like his to be toward you were you in his place. This is the touchstone of true reason. — Francis De Sales

God takes pleasure to see you take your little steps; and like a good father who holds his child by the hand, He will accommodate His steps to yours and will be content to go no faster than you. Why do you worry? — Francis De Sales

He would never exhort the faithful to persevere if he were not ready to give them the power to do so. — Francis De Sales

Be who you are and be that well. — Francis De Sales

To live according to the spirit is to love according to the spirit. — Saint Francis De Sales

All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be. — Saint Francis De Sales

A man who can own pearls does not bother about shells, and those who aspire to virtue do not trouble themselves over honors. — Francis De Sales

There is nothing as strong as tenderness, And nothing as tender as true strength. — Saint Francis De Sales

If we rebuke our heart by a calm, mild remonstrance, with more compassion for it than passion against it and encourage it to make amendment, then repentance conceived in this way will sink far deeper and penetrate more effectually than fretful, angry, stormy repentance. — Francis De Sales

See, this divine lover is at the gate. He does not merely knock, but He remains there knocking. He calls to the soul. — Francis De Sales

He who complains, sins. — Saint Francis De Sales

Hell is full of good intentions and wills. — Saint Francis De Sales

Faith fills a man with love for the beauty of its truth, with faith in the truth of its beauty — Saint Francis De Sales

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

Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted. — Saint Francis De Sales

There is nothing small in the service of God. — Saint Francis De Sales

God requires a faithful fulfillment of the merest trifle given us to do, rather than the most ardent aspiration to things to which we are not called. — Saint Francis De Sales

One great remedy against all manner of temptation, great or small, is to open the heart and lay bare its suggestion, likings, and dislikings before some spiritual adviser; for, ... the first condition which the Evil One makes with a soul, when he wants to entrap it, is silence. — Saint Francis De Sales

If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently ... And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed. — Saint Francis De Sales

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. — Francis De Sales

Make yourself familiar with the angels and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you. — Francis De Sales

From the heights of heaven Jesus Christ mercifully looks down upon you and graciously invites you there. — Francis De Sales

The damned are in the abyss of Hell, as within a woeful city, where they suffer unspeakable torments, in all their senses and members, because as they have employed all their senses and their members in sinning, so shall they suffer in each of them the punishment due to sin. — Saint Francis De Sales

Now as God revealed his Word and spoke, or preached, by the mouth of the fathers and Prophets, and at last by his own Son, then by the Apostles and evangelists, whose tongues were but as the pens of scribes writing rapidly, God thus employing men to speak to men; so to propose, apply, and declare this his Word, he employs his visible spouse as his mouthpiece and the interpreter of his intentions. It is God then who rules over Christian belief, but with two instruments, in a double way: (1) by his Word as by a formal rule and (2) by his Church as by the hand of the measurer and rule-user. Let us put it thus: God is the painter, our faith the picture, the colors are the Word of God, the brush is the Church. Here then are two ordinary and infallible rules of our belief: the Word of God, which is the fundamental and formal rule; the Church of God, which is the rule of application and explanation. — Francis De Sales

For acting thus you will remain innocent among the hissings of the serpents, and like a sweet strawberry you will receive no venom from the contact of venomous tongues. — Francis De Sales

Although, dear Lord, I have no feeling of confidence in Thee, I know all the same that Thou art my God, that I am wholly Thine, and that I have no hope but in Thy goodness; therefore I abandon myself entirely into Thy hands. — Francis De Sales

There is always more profit and more consolation in the public Offices of the Church than in private acts of devotion, God having willed to give the preference to communion in prayer over all individual action. — Francis De Sales

Doing little things with a strong desire to please God makes them really great. — Saint Francis De Sales

Charity and devotion differ no more, the one from the other, than the flame from the fire. — Saint Francis De Sales

When we find that we have been aroused to anger we must call for God's help like the apostles when they were tossed about by the wind and storm on the waters. He will command your passions to cease and there will be a great calm. — Francis De Sales

Little deeds that proceed from charity please God and have their place among meritorious acts. — Francis De Sales

I have made a pact with my tongue, not to speak when my heart is disturbed. — Saint Francis De Sales

We must be very faithful, but without anxiety or eagerness; we must use the means that are given to us according to our vocation, and then remain in peace concerning all the rest. For God ... will always be attentive to provide us with whatever is necessary. — Francis De Sales

Have patience to walk with short steps until you have wings to fly. — Saint Francis De Sales

We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day. — Saint Francis De Sales

Your fine church has not contented itself with cutting off from the Scripture entire books, chapters, sentences and words, but what it has not dared to cut off altogether it has corrupted and violated by its translations. In order that the sectaries of this age may altogether pervert this first and most holy rule of our faith, they have not been satisfied with shortening it or with getting rid of so many beautiful parts, but they have turned and turned it about, each one as he chose, and instead of adjusting their ideas by this rule they have adopted it to the square of their own greater or less sufficiency. — Francis De Sales

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

Go on bravely in the spirit of humility to make your general confession; - but I entreat you, be not troubled by any sort of fearfulness. The scorpion who stings us is venomous, but when his oil has been distilled, it is the best remedy for his bite; - even so sin is shameful when we commit it, but when reduced to repentance and confession, it becomes salutary and honourable. — Francis De Sales

Be neat, Philothea; let nothing be negligent about you. It is a kind of contempt of those with whom we converse, to frequent their company in uncomely apparel; but, at the same time, avoid all affectation, vanity, curiosity, or levity in your dress. Keep yourself always, as much as possible, on the side of plainness and modesty, which, without doubt, is the greatest ornament of beauty, and the best excuse for the want of it. — Saint Francis De Sales

Many would be willing to have afflictions provided that they not be inconvenienced by them. — Francis De Sales

Prayer for a Time of Suffering O Lord Jesus, by your incomparable sadness and by the unparalleled desolation that seized your divine heart on the Mount of Olives and on the Cross, and by the desolation of your dear Mother when she lost you, be our joy, or at least be our strength, now while your Cross and Passion are so closely joined to our hearts. — Francis De Sales

Humor is the foundation of reconciliation. — Saint Francis De Sales

Is it not a great temptation to be so valiant in imagination and so cowardly in execution? — Saint Francis De Sales

It is not those who commit the least faults who are the most holy, but those who have the greatest courage, the greatest generosity, the greatest love, who make the boldest efforts to overcome themselves, and are not immediately apprehensive about tripping. — Saint Francis De Sales

Those who keep careful watch over their conscience are not often liable to form rash judgments, for just as when the clouds lower the bees make for the shelter of their hive, so really good people shrink back into themselves, and refuse to be mixed up with the clouds and fogs of their neighbour's questionable doings, and rather than meddle with others, they consecrate their energies on their own improvement and good resolutions. No surer sign of an unprofitable life than when people give way to censoriousness and inquisitiveness into the lives of other men. — Francis De Sales

Have contempt for contempt. — Francis De Sales

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves. — Francis De Sales

Let us be what God likes, so long as we are His, and let us not be what we want to be, if it is against his intention. — Saint Francis De Sales

In short, it is more than reasonable that so holy a rule as is the holy Word of God should be kept in fixed languages, since it could not be maintained in this perfect integrity within bastard and unstable languages. — Francis De Sales

If, when stung by slander or ill-nature, we wax proud and swell with anger, it is a proof that our gentleness and humility are unreal, and mere artificial show. — Francis De Sales

Obedience is a virtue of so excellent a nature, that Our Lord was pleased to mark its observance upon the whole course of His life; thus He often says, He did not come to do His Own will, but that of His Heavenly Father. — Saint Francis De Sales

There are two sorts of good wills. The one says, "I would do well, but it gives me trouble, and I will not do it." The other, "I wish to do well, but I have not as much power as I have will; it is this which holds me back." The first fills Hell, the second Paradise. — Francis De Sales

One of the most evil dispositions possible is that which satirizes and turns everything to ridicule. God abhors this vice, and has sometimes punished it in a marked manner — Saint Francis De Sales

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time. — Saint Francis De Sales

The world is passing away. — Francis De Sales

A good discourse is that from which nothing can be retrenched without cutting into the quick. — Saint Francis De Sales

Obedience is a consecration of the heart, chastity of the body, and poverty of all worldly goods to the Love and Service of God. Blessed indeed are the obedient, for God will never permit them to go astray. — Saint Francis De Sales

Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne well those laid on you; it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while unable to bear an insult patiently. — Saint Francis De Sales

Without a doubt, one of the things which keeps us from attaining perfection is our tongue. When one has reached the point of no longer committing faults in speech, he has surely reached perfection, as was said by the Holy Spirit. The worst defect in talking is talking too much. Hence, in speech be brief and virtuous, brief and gentle, brief and simple, brief and charitable, brief and amiable. — Saint Francis De Sales

The slow pace of our perfection has to be borne with patience, provided that on our part we always do whatever we can to continue advancing. — St. Francis De Sales

Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs. — Francis De Sales

everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you His unwavering strength that you may bear it. Be at peace, then, and set aside all anxious thoughts and worries. Francis de Sales — Lettie B. Cowman

Those who commit these types of scandals are guility of the spiritual equivalent of murder, but I, here among you to prevent something far worst for you. While those who give scandal are guilty of the spiritual equivalent of murder, those who take scandal- who allow scandals to destroy faith- are guilty of spiritual suicide. — Saint Francis De Sales

Fits of anger, vexation,and bitterness against ourselves tend to pride and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is disturbed and upset at seeing that it is imperfect. — Francis De Sales

So many have come to me that I might serve them, leaving me no time to think of myself. However, I assure you that I do feel deep down within me, God be praised. — Saint Francis De Sales

When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence. — Saint Francis De Sales

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. — Saint Francis De Sales

Frequently give up some of your property by giving it with a generous heart to the poor ... It is true that God will repay us not only in the next world but even in this. — Francis De Sales

It is wonderful how attractive a gentle, pleasant manner is, and how much it wins hearts. — Francis De Sales

Never be hurried in anything. Do all things calmly and in a spirit of repose. Do not lose your inward peace even if everything seems to be going wrong. What is anything in life compared to peace of soul? — Francis De Sales

If your church continues in this liberty of conscience, making no scruple to take away what she pleases, soon the Scripture will fail you, and you will have to be satisfied with the Institutes of Calvin, which must indeed have I know not what excellence, since they censure the Scriptures themselves! — Francis De Sales

Every morning prepare your soul for a tranquil day. — Saint Francis De Sales

Nothing appeases an enraged elephant so much as the sight of a little lamb. — Saint Francis De Sales

During the night we must wait for the light. — Francis De Sales

The film festival measured a mile in length, from the Martinez to the Vieux Port, where sales executives tucked into their platters of fruits de mer, but was only fifty yards deep. For a fortnight the Croisette and its grand hotels willingly became a facade, the largest stage set in the world. Without realizing it, the crowds under the palm trees were extras recruited to play their traditional roles. As they cheered and hooted, they were far more confident than the film actors on display, who seemed ill at ease when they stepped from their limos, like celebrity criminals ferried to a mass trial by jury at the Palais, a full-scale cultural Nuremberg furnished with film clips of the atrocities they had helped to commit. — J.G. Ballard

When charity requires it we must freely and mildly communicate to our neighbor not only what is his instruction, but also what is profitable for his consolation. — Saint Francis De Sales

The Lord delights in every little step you take. — Saint Francis De Sales

Examine from time to time what are the dominant passions of your soul, and having ascertained this, mold your life, so that in thought, word, and deed you may as far as possible counteract them. — Saint Francis De Sales

The highest point of humility consists in not merely acknowledging one's abjection, but in taking pleasure therein, not from any want of breadth or courage, but to give the more glory to God's Divine Majesty, and to esteem one's neighbour more highly than one's self. — Saint Francis De Sales

Be patient and one day you will be in Heaven, where there will be only peace and joy ... You will possess an enduring tranquility and rest. — Francis De Sales

If you have firm trust in God, the success that comes to you will always be that which is most useful for you whether it appears good or bad in your private judgment. — Francis De Sales

The greatest defect we have in our prayers and in all that happens to us, particularly in that which concerns tribulations, is our lack of confidence ... Faith is great or little according to the measure of our confidence. — Francis De Sales

I have the same opinion of dances that physicians have of mushrooms: the best of them are good for nothing. — Saint Francis De Sales

To be pleased at correction and reproofs shows that one loves the virtues which are contrary to those faults for which he is corrected and reproved. And, therefore, it is a great sign of advancement in perfection. — Saint Francis De Sales

The many troubles in your household will tend to your edification, if you strive to bear them all in gentleness, patience, and kindness. Keep this ever before you, and remember constantly that God's loving eyes are upon you amid all these little worries and vexations, watching whether you take them as He would desire. Offer up all such occasions to Him, and if sometimes you are put out, and give way to impatience, do not be discouraged, but make haste to regain your lost composure. — Francis De Sales

You must grow in love by means of the root, rather than the branches. (S II 7) — Francis De Sales

When all shall fail us, then God will take care of us, and then all will not fail us since we shall have God. — Francis De Sales

At St. Francis de Sales in Atlanta, we do not have an organ. We do not have rehearsals during the week. We do not have a professional choir. — Richard Morris

Especially beware of bad books; and for nothing in the world let your soul be carried away by certain writings which weak brains admire, because of some vain subtleties which they find therein. — Francis De Sales

Fear is a greater evil than evil itself. O you of little faith: what is it you fear? Do not be afraid. You are walking on water, amid wind and wave, but you are with Jesus. What is there to fear? If fear takes hold of you, cry out strongly, "O Lord, save me!" He will hold out a hand to you. Hold on tight, and go forward with joy. — Francis De Sales

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. — Saint Francis De Sales