FRIENDSHIP

'...friendship can break out between two people, with that sudden violence which generally is only attributed to the revelation of love.'

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, p.198.

MINISTRY

"'Go on with your work," he said. "Keep at the little daily things that need doing, till the rest comes. Concentrate! Think of a lad at his homework, trying so hard and his tongue sticking out. That's how Our Lord would have us be when He gives us up to our own strength. Little things - they don't look much, yet they bring peace. Like wild flowers which seem to have no scent, till you get a field full of 'em.'"

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, p.178.

ANGER AT GOD

"'...our God came to be among us. Shake your fist at Him, spit in His face, scourge Him, and finally crucify Him: what does it matter? My daughter, it's already been done to Him."

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, p.146.

HATE

'Of all hate domestic hate is the most dangerous, it assuages itself by perpetual conflict, it is like those open abscesses without fever which slowly poison.'

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, p.138.

FAITH

'Faith is not a thing which one "loses," we merely cease to shape our lives by it.'

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest, p.105.

PREACHING

'"...the priest who descends from the pulpit of Truth, with a mouth like a hen's vent, a little hot but pleased with himself, he's not been preaching: at best he's been purring like a tabby-cat....And mind you many a fellow who waves his arms and sweats like a furniture-remover isn't necessarily any more awakened than the rest. On the contrary. I simply mean that when the Lord has drawn from me some word for the good of souls, I know, because of the pain of it."'

Georges Bernanos, The Diary Of A Country Priest, p.49.

CHILDREN

'...that very sense of powerlessness is the main-spring of a child's joy. He just leaves it all to his mother, you see. Present, past, future - his whole life is caught up in one look, and that look is a smile.'

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of A Country Priest, p.19.