Prudence Quotes

“A lot of people seem to think that the point of the moral life is continence, as if we were made for a lifetime’s toil of scales, arpeggios, and etudes. In fact, the point of the moral life is virtue. We are made for concert performance. We are made to fire on all cylinders and to do so as if effortlessly. Virtue is not a matter of mere moral might; it actually changes us in our inmost being. It makes us good and fit for good deeds.”
― O.P. Fr. Gregory Pine, Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly

“I was so used to thinking about happiness as deferred satisfaction that I had neglected to think about the purpose and import of what happens now. I had failed to engage with the question of happiness as a present reality and, in the process, had just gotten really busy.”
― O.P. Fr. Gregory Pine, Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly

“If you take an action-centered approach, one informed by prudence, it’s inevitable that you will make mistakes and commit sins. If you strive for the good, you will suffer misadventure. Fortunately, though, these day-to-day failures don’t spell disaster. There is only one genuine tragedy in life, and that’s not to become a saint. Truth be told, life isn’t about never falling down; it’s about pushing on and growing in virtue. Admittedly, that’s hard, but God gives us the strength for it. At times, the emotional, psychological, and spiritual toll of falling feels heavy. In those moments, it is tempting to retreat into yourself and settle for sinlessness over saintliness. That temptation has to be resisted. You are made for bold action, not analysis paralysis. There’s no salvation to be had in spinning your wheels thinking about sins and vices. Salvation is only to be had in living your life.”
― Fr. Gregory Pine O.P., Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly

“While our infinite desire may nag us with the feeling of unfulfillment, it doesn’t force us to seek lower goods and less meaningful pursuits. It is at the root of all our meaningful pursuits — even the highest among them — constantly spurring us on in search of what gives genuine peace and withholding satisfaction until we have found it.”
― O.P. Fr. Gregory Pine, Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly