A kindly turn of speech multiplies a man’s friends,   and a courteous way of speaking invites many a friendly reply. Let your acquaintances be many,   but your advisers one in a thousand. If you want to make a friend, take him on trial,   and be in no hurry to trust him; for one kind of…

Do not give your heart to your money,   or say, ‘With this I am self-sufficient.’ Do not be led by your appetites and energy   to follow the passions of your heart. And do not say, ‘Who has authority over me?’   for the Lord will certainly be avenged on you. Do not say, ‘I sinned, and…

John said to Jesus, ‘Master, we saw a man who is not one of us casting out devils in your name; and because he was not one of us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said, ‘You must not stop him: no one who works a miracle in my name is likely to speak…

My son, if you aspire to serve the Lord,   prepare yourself for an ordeal. Be sincere of heart, be steadfast,   and do not be alarmed when disaster comes. Cling to him and do not leave him,   so that you may be honoured at the end of your days. Whatever happens to you, accept it,   and…

All wisdom is from the Lord,   and it is his own for ever. The sand of the sea and the raindrops,   and the days of eternity, who can assess them? The height of the sky and the breadth of the earth,   and the depth of the abyss, who can probe them? Before all other things…

The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit. The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from…

Now I have something to tell your elders: I am an elder myself, and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and with you I have a share in the glory that is to be revealed. Be the shepherds of the flock of God that is entrusted to you: watch over it, not simply as…

Jesus called the people and his disciples to him and said:   ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the…

Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter…

Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man whom they begged him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ The…