Based Catholic Quotes

"Women, by nature indolent and unable to keep secrets, are little suited to government, particularly if one also considers that they are subject to their emotions and consequently little susceptible to reason and justice, attributes which should exclude them from all public office. . . Their weakness denies them the masculine vigor necessary to public administration, and it is almost impossible for them to govern without a base exploitation of their sex, or without acts of injustice and cruelty arising from the disorderly ascendency of their emotions." Cardinal Richelieu, The Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu, ch. 2

"The road to Hell is paved with stones of postponed resolutions." Bl. Fulton Sheen, On Being Human, pg. 324

"[The Pope] ought to think seriously of expelling prostitutes from the City, as St. Louis expelled them from Paris. It is a shameful thing that the Holy City, wherein is the head and fount of religion, should provide such ample opportunities for the evil passions of men. Adulterers, blasphemers, and those guilty of sodomy, ought to be punished with extreme severity according to the law of God in the Old Testament." St. Robert Bellarmine, De Reformatione, 14°, qtd. The Life and Work Of Blessed Robert Francis Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J. 1542-1621

"One ought to speak little and hear much." St. Ignatius of Loyola, qtd. A Thought From Saint Ignatius for Each Day of the Year

"There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God's." Attributed to St. Teresa of Avila

"Women must be taught it is a sin to take pleasure in being admired and desired by men, if this pleasure arises from vanity, and not from a wish to be married to them." St. Alphonsus, The Complete Ascetical Works of St. Alphonsus, vol. 15, pg. 351

"Alas! How men deceive themselves, who, thinking they are spiritual, seek to guide souls!" St. Ignatius of Loyola, qtd. A Thought From Saint Ignatius for Each Day of the Year

"I accept death willingly. He who is guilty of high treason should die; I am guilty, therefore it is just that I die." St. Paul of the Cross, Flowers of the Passion, pg. 205

"To him who loves holy purity conversations with persons of the opposite sex always appear long and fatiguing, however short they be." St. Paul of the Cross, Flowers of the Passion, pg. 198

"Prayer without mortification is either a delusion, or will soon come to an end." Fr. Balthasar Alvarez SJ, qtd. by St. Alphonsus

"Regard cleanliness and order as a virtue, uncleanness and untidyness as a vice." Cardinal Mercier, The Purpose of Christian Mortification

"Whether I eat or drink, or in whatever other action or employment I am engaged, that solemn voice always seems to sound in my ears, 'Arise ye dead and come to judgment!'—As often as I think of the day of judgment, my heart quakes, and my whole frame trembles. If I am to indulge in any of the pleasures of the present life, I am resolved to do it in such a way, that the solemn realities of the future judgment may never be banished from my recollection." St. Jerome (attributed)

"God is quicker to forgive than a mother to snatch her child from the fire." St. John Vianney, qtd. Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia

"I desire few things, and the little that I desire, I desire very little." St. Francis de Sales, qtd. The Purpose of Christian Mortification

"The short day of this fleeting life, with all its apparent evils, will soon be over; and the day of eternity is fast approaching, when every one shall receive according as he has done good or evil in his body." George Leo Haydock, Commentary on Luke 16

"Montesquieu has well said that the religion of Christ, which was instituted to lead men to eternal life, has contributed more than any other institution to promote the temporal and social happiness of mankind." Cdl. James Gibbons, "Supremacy of the Catholic Religion"

"I regard woman's rights as the worst enemies of the female sex. They rob woman of all that is amiable and gentle, tender and attractive; they rob her of her innate grace of character and give her nothing in return but masculine boldness and brazen effrontery. They are habitually preaching about woman's rights and prerogatives, and have not a word to say about her duties and responsibilities. They withdraw from her those social obligations which properly belong to her sex and fill her with ambition to usurp positions for which neither God nor nature intended her." Cdl. James Gibbons, Sermon, Cathedral, February 4, 1900 qtd. Words of Wisdom to the People

"St. Philip Neri was satisfied with books if the names of their authors began with S." Introduction to St. Leonard of Port Maurice's The Hidden Treasure; or the Value and Excellence of the Holy Mass; with a Practical and Devout Method of Hearing It with Profit

"I could sooner reconcile all Europe than two women." Louis XIV qtd. Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Classical Quotations

"'The Gregorian school,' says [comte de] Saint Priest, speaking of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, sent by Gregory II., 'although animated chiefly by the sincerest religious zeal, did not limit their views to the salvation of souls. To clear the land, to change a dry soil and thick forests into fertile plains, to build dwellings which might serve as the commencement of cities, to accustom men to social life, to bind strongly the family tie, and to form bonds of association, and of mutual wants and succors, to unite, to colonize. . .' Hostile bands [...] laid aside their ferocity. It is impossible to estimate the effects of these institutions on civilization. There is no doubt in my mind that the veneration of the Blessed Virgin, which the Popes always cherished, was amongst the most powerful means of civilization." Bp. Francis Kenrick, The Primacy of the Apostolic See Vindicated, Part III, Ch. 8