Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales, CO OM OFM Cap.was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God...
NationalitySwiss
ProfessionClergyman
Date of Birth21 August 1567
CountrySwitzerland
Saint Francis de Sales quotes about
A spoon full of honey gets more flies than a barrel full of vinegar.
For every great temptation there will be many small ones. Wolves and bears are more dangerous than flies, but we are bothered most by flies.
You can attract more bees with a spoonful of sugar than a cupful of vinegar.
Be who you are and be that well.
The whole world is not worth one soul.
Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.
Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
Flowers often grow more beautifully on dung-hills than in gardens that look beautifully kept.
He who stays not in his littleness, loses his greatness.
The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.
We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.
Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. I mean do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage. How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbour's faults if we are impatient in dealing with our own? He who is fretted by his own failings will not correct them. All profitable correction comes from a calm and peaceful mind.
Marital intercourse is certainly holy, lawful and praiseworthy in itself and profitable to society, yet in certain circumstances it can prove dangerous, as when through excess the soul is made sick with venial sin, or through the violation and perversion of its primary end, killed by mortal sin; such perversion, detestable in proportion to its departure from the true order, being always mortal sin, for it is never lawful to exclude the primary end of marriage which is the procreation of children.