25 Inspiring Quotations From Saint John Bosco

In honor of Saint John Bosco's feast day, here are twenty-five quotations from the priest and gifted teacher who was a father to the fatherless.

St. John Bosco

Without confidence and love, there can be no true education. If you want to be loved…you must love yourselves, and make your children feel that you love them.
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My life experience has been that only the practice of religion can assure concord in families and the happiness of those who live in this valley of tears.
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The school was not the end; it was rather the instrumental means for improving the way of life.
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Be brave and try to detach your heart from worldly things. Do your utmost to banish darkness from your mind and come to understand what true, selfless piety is. Through confession, endeavor to purify your heart of anything which may still taint it. Enliven your faith, which is essential to understand and achieve piety.
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If one is to do good, he must have a little courage, be ready for sacrifice, deal affably with all and never slight anybody. By following this method I have always had significant success, in fact, marvelous success.
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All past persecutors of the Church are now no more, but the Church still lives on. The same fate awaits modern persecutors; they, too, will pass on, but the Church of Jesus Christ will always remain, for God has pledged His Word to protect Her and be with Her forever, until the end of time.
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 Act today in such a way that you need not blush tomorrow.
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Your mortification should be your diligence in doing your duties and in putting up with the annoyances of others.
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Do not put off till tomorrow the good you can do today. You may not have a tomorrow.
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Guard your eyes since they are the windows through which sin enters the soul.
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 Let us strive to fare well in this life and in the next.
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There are plenty of ways to practice mortification! Just patiently endure cold, heat, sickness, troubles, people, happenings, and so forth.
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Do you want your companions to respect you? Always think well of everyone, and be ready to help others. Do this and you will be happy.
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Servite Domino in laetitia! [Serve the Lord joyfully!]
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If we want to have a good society, we must concentrate all our forces on the Christian education of the young. Experience has taught me that if we wish to sustain civil society then we should take good care of the young.
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If young people are educated properly, we have moral order; if not, vice and disorder prevail. Religion alone can initiate and achieve a true education.
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Remember that good confessions and good Communions are the first steps to a sound education.
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Do you want Our Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.
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Your reward in heaven will make up completely for all your pain and suffering.
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This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so He bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.
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All for God and for His Glory. In whatever you do, think of the Glory of God as your main goal.
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Everything and everyone is won by the sweetness of our words and works.
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Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh.
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Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in Heaven; whereas if you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul.
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'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.' Therefore, according to the Gospel, any citizen can be a good Catholic – that is, side with Jesus Christ and the Pope, and do good to his fellow men – and at the same time side with Caesar, namely, observe the laws of the land, except when the rulers persecute religion or tyrannize the consciences and minds of citizens.

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