Saint John Paul II in His Own Words - A Collection of His Quotes

The following quotes from our late Holy Father, St. John Paul the Great, reflect the breadth of his knowledge, the nature of Divine Love and the incomparable dignity of human persons who are made in the image and likeness of God, "chosen from eternity and called by name."

The human being is single, unique, and unrepeatable, someone thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by name.

There is no dignity when the human dimension is eliminated from the person. In short, the problem with pornography is not that it shows too much of the person, but that it shows far too little.

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Darkness can only be scattered by light, hatred can only be conquered by love.

Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church.

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

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

The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.

As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.

Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.

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

The future starts today, not tomorrow. 

In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.  

Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it. 

Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. 

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

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

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 caricature of freedom to claim that people are free to organize their lives with no reference to moral values, and to say that society does not have to ensure the protection and advancement of ethical values. Such an attitude is destructive of freedom and peace. 

The worst prison would be a closed heart. 

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

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

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

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

St. John Paul II, Pray for us!