Jesuit Quotes

“In the end, only the truth will survive.”
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“Everybody was talking about the religious man who committed suicide.
While no one in the monastery approved of the man's action, some say they admired his faith.
Faith?" said the Master.
He had the courage of his convictions, didn't he?"
That was fanaticism, not faith. Faith demands a greater courage still: to reexamine one's convictions and reject them if they do not fit the facts.”
― Anthony de Mello

“It is the destiny of things real to destroy those that are artifice.”
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“Al final del camino me dirán:
—¿Has vivido? ¿Has amado?
Y yo, sin decir nada,
abriré el corazón lleno de nombres.”
― Pedro Casaldáliga

“Gift better than Himself God doth not know,
Gift better than God no man can see;
This gift doth here the giver given bestow
Gift to this gift let each receiver be;
God is my gift, Himself He freely gave me,
God's gift am I, and none but God shall have me.”
― Robert Southwell, Collected Poems

“Thirty-five craters on the moon are named for Jesuit scientists and mathematicians. ”
― Thomas E. Woods Jr.

“Ite, inflammate omnia.”
― Ignatius of Loyola

“Then, alone once more, he split himself into the three persons that all generals of the Church must simultaneously be. First, the anointed Peter, first Bishop of Christ, with all that that spiritually implied. Second, the militant guardian of the Church temporal with all that that implied. And last, just a simple man who believed the teachings of a simple man who was the Son of God.”
― James Clavell, Tai-Pan

“Hospitality is a prized virtue of monastic communities. Benedict's rule says: 'All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."' Brother Alphonsus served as a doorkeeper in the seventeenth century at a Jesuit college in Majorca, Spain. Each time someone knocked at the door he would reply, 'I am coming, Lord!' This practice reminded him to treat each person with as much respect as if it were Jesus himself at the door.”
― Ken Shigematsu, God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God

“The real measure of our Jesuit universities, [then,] lies in who our students become.”
― Peter-Hans Kolvenbach

“I learned much from the Order of the Jesuits", said Hitler. "Until now, there has never been anything more grandiose, on the earth, than the hierarchical organization of the Catholic Church. I transferred much of this organization into my own party... I am going to let you in on a secret... I am founding an Order... In my "Burgs" of the Order, we will raise up a youth which will make the world tremble... "

Hermann Rauschning, former national-socialist chief of the government of Dantzig: "Hitler m'a dit", (Ed. Co-operation, Paris 1939, pp.266, 267, 273 ss). According to Raushning, Hitler then stopped his speech, abruptly saying: "I can't say anymore.”
― Adolf Hitler

“I survived. [When asked what he had done during the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution].”
― Sieyès, Emmanuel Joseph

“More than ever I find myself in the hands of God.
This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth.
But now there is a difference;
the initiative is entirely with God.
It is indeed a profound spiritual experience
to know and feel
myself so totally in God’s hands.”
― Pedro Arrupe SJ

“I survived. [When asked what he had done during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution]”
― Sieyès, Emmanuel Joseph

“Those are napoleons, éclairs, and jésuites for the restaurant."
"Jésuites?" asked Piper.
"They're triangular, flaky pastries filled with frangipane crème and sprinkled with sliced almonds and powdered sugar. They originated in France, and the name refers to the shape of a Jesuit's hat.”
― Mary Jane Clark, That Old Black Magic

“As a being created by God, you are involved in a relationship with the Creator that gleams with a moment-by-moment immediacy. Creation is not some fatalistic scenario within which you rudely awaken, nor your own act of self-determination, nor an ancient act that long ago began the process of being. No, creation has this immediacy of constant present tense. An awareness of this immediacy at any moment can startle your soul and excite your heart in a rush of awe.”
― George A. Aschenbrenner, Stretched for Greater Glory: What To Expect From The Spiritual Exercises

“For someone, somewhere, in need of your help, you just might be the only hope. How will you respond?”
― Eric A. Clayton, My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars