It is not enough that I should give to whosoever may ask of me, I must forestall their desires, and show that I feel much gratified, much honoured in rendering service; and if they take a thing that I use, I must seem as though glad to be relieved of it.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. IX
If it is hard to give to whoever asks, it
is still harder to let what belongs to us
be taken, without asking it back, or
rather, I ought to say it seems hard; for
the yoke of the Lord is sweet and light:[1]
when we accept it we feel its sweetness
immediately.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. IX
When Charity is deeply rooted in the
soul it shows itself exteriorly: there is so
gracious a way of refusing what we
cannot give, that the refusal pleases as
much as the gift.
HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. IX
- ↑ Cf. Matt., xi, 30.
