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Death can hold no bitterness for the soul that loves.  It brings with it all the sweetness and delights of love.  There is no sadness in the remembrance of it when it opens the door to all joy.

To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul. It is Jesus alone who can give such value to our actions. Let us then love Him with all our heart.

The world's thy ship and not thy home.

It should be noted here that, when we desire anyone’s affection, we always seek it because of some interest, profit or pleasure of our own....When this truth is put to them, they laugh at the distress which had been assailing them in the past as to whether their affection was being returned or no. Of course, however pure our affection may be, it is quite natural for us to wish it to be returned. But, when we come to evaluate the return of affection, we realize that it is insubstantial, like a thing of straw, as light as air and easily carried away by the wind.

Ordinarily this contemplation, which is secret and hidden from the very one who receives it, imparts to the soul, together with the dryness and emptiness it produces in the senses, an inclination to remain alone and in quietude.

O my God, the more gently you touch, the more you are hidden in the purified souls of those who have made themselves aliens on earth, and whom you hide in the secret of your face.

...Jesus has taken command of my ship and has protected it from encountering other vessels. He has kept me in solitude with Himself. Consequently, my heart, by knowing this Captain, has fallen under the spell of His love, and here He keeps me captive. Oh, I love this prison and this powerful King who keeps me captive; and how I love this Captain who amid the waves of the ocean doesn't allow me to suffer shipwreck.

Beg our Lord to grant you perfect love of neighbor and leave the rest to Him.

Why should we defend ourselves when we are misunderstood and misjudged? Let us leave that aside. Let us not say anything...O blessed silence, which gives so much peace to the soul.

Adore Him in truth, which is to say, by our works, for it is above all else by our actions that we prove true; to do always that which is pleasing to God our Father, for we are His children.

They dislike praising others and love to be praised themselves; sometimes they seek out such praise. Herein they are like the foolish virgins, who, when their lamps could not be lit, sought oil from others.

One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer.