“There is a great deal of self-will in the world, but very little genuine independence of character.”

— Frederick William Faber, Spiritual Conferences (1859), Ch. III, § 1, p. 193

About Frederick William Faber

1814 – 1863

English Catholic priest and hymn writer.

“Kindness has converted more sinners than either zeal, eloquence, or learning.”

“Faith is a letting down our nets into the untransparent deeps at the divine command, not knowing what we shall take.”

“The buried talent is the sunken rock on which most lives strike and founder.”

“It was for this that I've been training myself, it was for this that I was practising.”

“For freedom is not acquired by satisfying yourself with what you desire, but by destroying your desire.”

“Ask yourself at every moment, "Is this necessary?"”

“A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all—that is myself.”

“Up! mind thine own aim, and God speed the mark!”

“It may be called the Master Passion—the hunger for Self-Approval.”