Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that have received--only what you have given.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
For it is in giving that we receive.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens, you have made them bright, precious and fair.
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging.
A man has only so much knowledge as he puts to work.
Holy wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses.
If a superior give any order to one who is under him which is against that man's conscience, although he do not obey it yet he shall not be dismissed.
Every day He humbles Himself just as He did when from from His heavenly throne into the Virgin's womb; every day He comes to us and lets us see Him in lowliness, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour; of You, Most High, he bears the likeness.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek to be consoled, as to console. To be understood, as to understand. To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
A man sins who wishes to receive more from his neighbor than he is himself willing to give to the Lord God.
We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.
Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury pardon. Where there is doubt faith.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Spread the Gospel. If necessary, use words.
Holy poverty confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world.
I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.
If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
Where there is charity and wisdom there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility there is neither anger nor worry.
Don't canonize me too soon. I'm perfectly capable of fathering a child.
Start doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.
Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing you have received, but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.
If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.
Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these, they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.
First do the necessary, then do the feasible, then you will be able to achieve the impossible.
Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and an be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face.
You wanderer on the path! There is no path, only wandering.
Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.
You cannot all abandon your possessions, but at least you can change your attitude about them. All getting separates you from others; all giving unites to others.
Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where these is hatred, let me sow love.
And St. Francis said: 'My dear son, be patient, because the weaknesses of the body are given to us in this world by God for the salvation of the soul. So they are of great merit when they are borne patiently.
Preach always. If necessary, use words.
Blessed is the servant who esteems himself no better when he is praised and exalted by people than when he is considered worthless, simple, and despicable; for what a man is before God, that he is and nothing more.
What each man is in Your eyes, thus he is, and no more.
A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.
What we are looking for is what is looking.
Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.
Nor did demons crucify Him; it is you who have crucified Him and crucify Him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.
It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
