Quotes by John Paul II

“Do not be afraid to take a chance on peace, to teach peace, to live peace...Peace will be the last word of history.”

“Real peace is not just a matter of structures and mechanisms. It rests above all on the adoption of a style of human coexistence marked by mutual acceptance and a capacity to forgive from the heart...”

“The ethos of redemption is realied in self-mastery, by means of temperance, that is, continence of desires.”

“On one hand the eternal attraction of man towards femininity (cf. Gn. 2:23) frees in him-or perhaps it should free-a gamut of spiritual-corporal desires of an especially personal and "sharing" natu...”

“I plead with you--never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

“The ethos of redemption is realized in self-mastery, by means of temperance, that is, continence of desires.”

“No one else can want for me. No one can substitute his act of will for mine. It does sometimes happen that someone very much wants me to want what he wants. This is the moment when the impassable f...”

“It must not be forgotten that reason too needs to be sustained in all its searching by trusting dialogue and sincere friendship. A climate of suspicion and distrust, which can beset speculative res...”

“Faith and Reason are like two wings of the human spirit by which is soars to the truth.”

“In suffocating the voice of conscience, passion carries with itself a restlessness of the body and the senses: it is the restlessness of the "external man." When the internal man has been reduced t...”

“Original sin is not only the violation of a positive command but attempts to abolish fatherhood, destroying its rays which permeate the created world, placing in doubt the truth about God who is...”

“Love consists of a commitment which limits one's freedom - it is a giving of the self, and to give oneself means just that: to limit one's freedom on behalf of another.”

“...if desire is predominant it can deform love between man and woman and rob them both of it.”

“The true Christian can nurture a trustful optimism, because he is certain of not walking alone. In sending us Jesus, the eternal Son made man, God has drawn near to each of us. In Christ he has bec...”

“A person's rightful due is to be treated as an object of love, not as an object for use.”

“Friendship, as has been said, consists in a full commitment of the will to another person with a view to that person's good.”

“Love between man and woman cannot be built without sacrifices and self-denial.”

“Limitation of one's freedom might seem to be something negative and unpleasant, but love makes it a positive, joyful and creative thing. Freedom exists for the sake of love.”

“Take away from love the fullness of self surrender, the completeness of personal commitment, and what remains will be a total denial and negation of it.”

“True freedom is not advanced in the permissive society, which confuses freedom with license to do anything whatever and which in the name of freedom proclaims a kind of general amorality. It is a c...”