Category: Worth Reading

The first and only step required to experience mercy, the Pope added, is to acknowledge that we are in need of mercy. “Jesus comes for us, when we recognize that we are sinners.” All that’s necessary is not to imitate the Pharisee who stood in front of the altar and thanked God for not being a sinner “like other men.”…

To each man one soul only is given; to each soul only is given a little power — the power at some moments to outgrow and swallow up the stars. If age after age that power comes upon men, whatever gives it to them is great. Whatever makes men feel old is mean — an empire or a skin-flint shop.…

Material beings are moved from without, like billiard balls; but spiritual beings are moved from within. The first cause of a specifically human act is always internal, not external. By “a specifically human act” I mean one like asking a question, creating a work of art, making a moral choice, affirming another person, or appreciating the beauty of nature —…

People get from books the idea that if you have married the right person you may expect to go on ‘being in love’ forever. As a result, when they find they are not, they think this proves they have made a mistake and are entitled to a change — not realizing that, when they have changed, the glamour will presently…