Francois Fenelon
Francois Fenelon
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, more commonly known as François Fénelon, was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer. He today is remembered mostly as the author of The Adventures of Telemachus, first published in 1699...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionClergyman
CountryFrance
Francois Fenelon quotes about
prayer work ought
Were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be.
self joy simplicity
Simplicity brings back the joys of Paradise. Not that we have pure pleasure without a moment's suffering, but when we are surrendered to God, we are not grasping for pleasure, and even our troubles are received with thanksgiving. This inner harmony, and this deliverance from fear and the tormenting desires of self, create a satisfaction in the soul which is above all the intoxicating joys of this world put together.
love self despair
Discouragement is simply the despair of wounded self-love.
soul doe restlessness
Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul.
heart evil looks
Sordid and infamous sensuality, the most dreadful evil that issued from the box of Pandora, corrupts every heart, and eradicates every virtue. Fly! wherefore dost thou linger? Fly, cast not one look behind thee; nor let even thy thought return to the accursed evil for a moment.
powerful mean long
As long as anything in this world means anything to you, your freedom is only a word. You are like a bird that is held by a leash; you can only fly so far.
giving people trying
Most people I ask little from. I try to give them much, and expect nothing in return and I do very well in the bargain.
war men blood
All wars are civil ones; for it is still man spilling his own blood, tearing out his own bowels.
book past age
The past but lives in written words: a thousand ages were blank if books had not evoked their ghosts, and kept the pale unbodied shades to warn us from fleshless lips.
prayer occupation speak
Accustom yourself gradually to carry Prayer into all your daily occupation - speak, act, work in peace, as if you were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be.
opportunity littles should
Little opportunities should be improved.
disappointment light essentials
In the light of eternity we shall see that what we desired would have been fatal to us, and that what we would have avoided was essential to our well-being.
gratitude godly past
Let gratitude for the past inspire us with trust for the future.
sleep night men
It is this unquiet self-love that renders us so sensitive. The sick man, who sleeps ill, thinks the night long. We exaggerate, from cowardice, all the evils which we encounter; they are great, but our sensibility increases them. The true way to bear them is to yield ourselves up with confidence to God.