If you truly want to help the soul of your neighbor, you should approach God first with all your heart. Ask him simply to fill you with charity, the greatest of all virtues; with it you can accomplish what you desire.
–Saint Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)
Beg God for the gift to love one another. Love all people, even your enemies, not because they are your brothers and sisters but so they may become such.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
Take pains to refrain from sharp words. If they escape your lips, do not be ashamed to let your lips produce the remedy, since they have caused the wounds.
–Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
Resentment attacks our vital forces and does us much harm. When someone has made us suffer, our tendency is to keep the memory of the wrong alive in our minds, like a “bill” we will produce in due time to demand settlement. Those accumulated bills end up poisoning our lives. It is wiser to cancel every debt, as the Gospel invites us to. In return, we will be forgiven everything, and our hearts will be set free, whereas nurturing resentment toward others closes us to the positive things they could contribute to us.
–Jacques Philippe (1947-
I condemn no other man’s conscience: their conscience may save them, and mine must save me. We should remember, in all the controversies in which we engage, to treat our opponents as if they were acting in good faith, even if they seem to us to be acting out of spite or self-interest.
–Saint John Fisher (1469-1535)
We should love and feel compassion for those who unjustly oppose us, since they harm themselves and do us good, for they adorn us with crowns of everlasting glory.
— Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria (1502-1539)
