In terms of my own life and the mistakes I made and the struggles I had, I'm grateful for them. It taught me more than success and opportunity ever did.

Opposition is an inevitable reality of pastoral life.

Optimism is a kind of heart stimulant - the digitalis of failure.

Celebrate your mistakes.

My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing beauty of life once more. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure. When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive--I'll find love again.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream.

we're allowed to make a lot of mistakes in our lives, except the mistake that destroy us

Because i've suffered. Because many times in my life i have tried to love with all my heart, and my love has wound up being trampled or betrayed.

It's thrilling to fight for a love that's entirely unrequited. It might not be much fun. It might leave profound and lasting scars. But it's interesting—especially for a person who, for years now, has been afraid of taking risks and who has begun to be terrified by the possibility that things might change without her being able to control them. I'm not going to repress my feelings any longer. This challenge is my salvation.

If you only walk on sunny days you'll never reach your destination.

I know that God is putting me through the fire of afflictions. I've accepted the blows that life has dealt me, and sometimes I feel as cold and indifferent as the water that inflicts such pain on the steel. But my one prayer is this: 'Please, God, my Mother, don't give up until I've taken on the shape that you wish for me. Do this by whatever means you think best, for as long as you like but never ever throw me on the scrap heap of souls.

Do no be ashamed to make a temporary withdrawal from the field if you see that your enemy is stronger than you; it is not winning or losing a single battle that matters, but how the war ends.