Quotes by John Paul II

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 nature (cf. analysis of the beginning), to which a proportionate pyramid of values corresponds. On the other hand, lust limits this gamut, obscuring the pyramid of values that marks the perennial attraction of male and female.

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 frontier between him and me, which is drawn by free will, becomes most obvious. I may not want that which he wants me to want - and in this precisely I am incommunicabilis. I am, and I must be, independent in my actions. All human relationships are posited on this fact.

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 research, ignores the teaching of the ancient philosophers who proposed friendship as one of the most appropriate contexts for sound philosophical enquiry.

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 to silence, then passion, once it has been given freedom of action, so to speak, exhibits itself as an insistent tendency to satisfy the senses and the body.

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 and leaving man with only a sense of the master-slave relationship.

Love consists of a commitment which limits ones freedom - it is a giving of the self, and to give oneself means just that: to limit ones 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 become our travelling companion.

A persons 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 persons good.

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

Limitation of ones 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.

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

The lust of the flesh directs these desires [of personal union], however, to satisfaction of the body, often at the cost of a real and full communion of persons.

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.

Know what you are talking about.