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So I have experience that the true remedy against a fall is to be attached to the cross and trust in Him who placed Himself on it.

And in this elevation of all things through the Incarnation of his Son and through the glory of his resurrection according to the flesh not only did the Father beautify creatures partially, but, we can say, he clothed them entirely in beauty and dignity.

Be careful never to waste an occasion for mortification by complaining.

I only follow His counsels regarding mortification, and I made the resolution to deny myself in all things. I only mortify my will.

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.

True love grows by sacrifice and the more thoroughly the soul rejects natural satisfaction, the stronger and more detached its tenderness becomes.

God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform.

O Eternal Father, that You are blessed and glorious in Yourself is no cause for wonder. That all creatures are blessed and glorious through You is no cause for wonder. But that You communicate Yourself to, and take pleasure in, a creature so vile, this is a cause for wonder....

The Savior hangs naked and destitute before you on the cross because he has chosen poverty...Gratefully receive what God's providence sends you. Joyfully do without what He may let you to do without.

...or if, as I have said, you are very careful about your prayer, you will soon find yourselves gradually reaching the summit of the mountain without knowing how. But how harsh it sounds to say that we must take pleasure in nothing, unless we also say what consolations and delights this renunciation brings in its train, and what a great gain it is, even in this life!

Because we are so miserable, we become attached to sensible fervor, to experiencing the love of God sensibly, and often we go to prayer in search of the sensible consolation of God but not for God Himself.

Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.