All of the quotations in this week’s edition of Gleanings are by Pope John Paul II.

 

Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.

An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.

When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.

Wars generally do not resolve the problems for which they are fought and therefore… ultimately prove futile.

Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.

To remain a joyful family requires much of both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others.

I have a sweet tooth for song and music. This is my Polish sin.

Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles.

From now on, it is only through a conscious choice and a deliberate policy that humanity can survive.

The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort, and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish.

Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just, and humane society.

Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery.

The truth is not always the majority decision.

Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one must not misuse it.

Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance.