It is religion which has made modern Europe what she is by its stability amid the ruin of nations, by adapting itself to circumstances, to times, and places, without ever abating an iota of its unshaken principles. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire More Quotes by Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire More Quotes From Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire It is not genius, nor glory, nor love that reflects the greatness of the human soul; it is kindness. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire greatness tattoo kindness In relations between the rich and the strong, between the rich and the poor, between the master and the servant, it's liberty that grinds down, and the law which liberates. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire liberty strong law A really sublime moment is that when the last ray of light breaks in upon the soul, and marshals into a single group all the scattered disconnected truths there. There is such a vast difference between the moment which follows, and the moment which precedes this one, between what we were before, and what we are after, that the word grace has been invented to convey the idea of this magic stroke, of this light from on high. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire differences light ideas Only three things are necessary to make life happy: the blessing of God, books , and a friend. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire blessing book happy-life The inner life is the whole man, and forms all the worth of man. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire form life-is men It is not a slight thing, gentlemen, to force a man to say what he is, or what he believes himself to be; for that supreme word of man, that single expression which he utters of and upon himself is decisive. It lays down the basis upon which all judgment of him is to be formed. From that moment all the acts of his life must correspond to the answer given by him. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire expression men believe After speech, silence is the greatest power in the world. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire speech silence world Duty is the grandest of ideas, because it implies the idea of God, of the soul, of liberty, of responsibility, of immortality. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire soul responsibility ideas The universe shows us the life of God, or rather it is in itself the life of God. We behold in it his permanent action, the scene upon which his power is exercised, and in which all his attributes are reflected. God is not out of the universe any more than the universe is out of God. God is the principle, the universe is the consequence, but a necessary consequence, without which the principle would be inert, unfruitful, impossible to conceive. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire principles would-be action Love is the beginning, the middle, and the end of everything. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire middle ends love Since God is the end of man, since he has created us to be perfect and happy in him, it is manifest that if the designs of creation have not here below been entirely frustrated, there should be found men who tend to their end in seeking and loving God. And nevertheless, because of human liberty, there should also be found other men who neglect God, their principle and their end, and yield to the seduction of created things. Such indeed is the spectacle which the history of the world unceasingly presents to us. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire yield perfect men Man forms himself in his own interior, and nowhere else. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire form solitude men The Church had the words reason and liberty on her lips when the inalienable rights of the human race were threatened with shipwreck. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire church race rights Wherever God is adored, he is adored in virtue of a supernatural doctrine; wherever he is despised, he is despised in the name of nature and reason. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire doctrine virtue names Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other, on the contrary they are twin sisters. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire sister real life Prophecy, that universal and perpetual torch by which faith is enlightened. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire enlightened prophecy torches You saw me vacillating between error and truth, loving them equally because unable to distinguish the one from the other; the hour marked out by God for my enlightenment has come: He has shown me the powerlessness of reason, and the necessity of faith. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire enlightenment saws errors Nothing is achieved without solitude. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire solitude There exists an infinite, eternal Being, subsisting of himself, who is one without being alone; for he finds in his own essence relations whence, with the necessary movement of his life, results the absolute plenitude of his perfection and his happiness. A Being unique and complete, God suffices to himself. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire unique essence god The mind sees, the will commands, the man acts. What is it then to act? To act is to produce something. If you have produced nothing--if no result has been the fruit of your will, you have done nothing. Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire done mind men
