• “Truly, this is the worst kind of avarice: not even to share perishable goods with those in need.”

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • Wells become more productive if they are drained completely, while they silt up if they are left standing. Thus wealth left idle is of no use to anyone, but put to use and exchanged it becomes fruitful and beneficial for the public.

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • “You, however, have regard for gold, but not for your own brothers and sisters. You recognize the inscription on the face of a coin, and can tell the counterfeit from the genuine, but you completely ignore your brothers and sisters in their time of need.”

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • “It is equally difficult to preserve one’s soul from despair in hard times, and to prevent it from becoming arrogant in prosperous circumstances.”

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • “But how will I support myself?” such a person asks. You have hands, you have skills—hire yourself out as a laborer or a servant.  Life has many possibilities and opportunities.  Are you unable to work? Then beg from those who have means. Do you think it shameful to beg? You will be put to even greater shame if you default on a loan. In any case, I do not make these recommendations as if laying down a law, but rather to emphasize that anything is preferable to borrowing. The ant is able, without begging or borrowing, to feed itself, while the bee gives what remains of its own food to the queen, which nature has given neither hands nor any skills. And you, a human being, the inventive animal, can you not find even one contrivance out of so many that are available for the preservation of life?

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • We may observe, moreover, that is is not those who are truly deprived who come to procure a loan, since the creditors have no confidence in their ability to repay; most borrowers are rather people who devote themselves to unconstrained expenditures and useless luxuries.

    —St. Basil the Great, On Social Justice

  • Sounds and emotions detach us from ourselves, whereas silence always forces man to reflect upon his own life.

    The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
    Cardinal Robert Sarah

  • Imagine a society in which no one sold anything, but everyone shared freely their skills and wealth. Then every action in that society would bring not only material benefits, but spiritual benefits also. Such societies already exist in miniature: families operate in this way. How wonderful it would be if villages and towns could become like large families.

    On Living Simply
    St. John Chrysostom

  • Is it less grave to steal silver than gold, because silver is less valuable than gold? From the point of view of the victim, the loss of silver is less grave. But for the perpetration of the crime, there is no difference.

    On Living Simply
    St. John Chrysostom

  • It is necessary to provide ourselves with the means of the best possible environment for finding within us the silence that allows us to be in intimate communion with God. Christ very clearly recommends this search for intimacy: “When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt 6:6). But our real room is precisely ourselves. Man is invited to enter into himself so as to remain alone with God.

    The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
    Cardinal Robert Sarah