Quotessence
Home / Authors / Fulton J. Sheen
Fulton J. Sheen

Fulton J. Sheen Quotes

Televangelist

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenWorldIfsCatholicEvilSinEconomyLiberalismPoliticsSoulGodDoeGivingLoveSelfWisdomCatholicismChristPeopleTwo

Famous Fulton J. Sheen Quotes

“The evil in the world must not make me doubt the existence of God. There could be no evil if there were no God. Before there can be a hole in a uniform, there must be a uniform; before there is death, there must be life; before there is error, there must be truth; before there is a crime, there must be liberty and law; before there is a war, there must be peace; before there is a devil, there must be a God, rebellion against whom made the devil.”

GodEvilDoubtGoodnessThe Devil
Book:Fulton Sheen's Wartime Prayer Book
Create image

“We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and mortification are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charity. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego in which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is God’s arrival that is the important event.”

ThinkingMeanPersonsImportantEndsLightChristianEvilVirtueClearEventsEgoNegativeIdealsHatredPlantCharitySeedsOpeningChristian LifeGod LoveWeedIntensityHis LoveArrivalsAsceticismPenanceMortificationPull UpsFerocityImportant Events
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image

“Never will we be able to understand our times if we naively 'think' of this system of self Government as the work of a few gangsters or the creation of a pack of criminals we call a political party. The appeal of Socialism, Fascism and communism was principally negative; they were protests against a live and let live anything goes liberalism, a spineless indifference to causes, a failure to recognize that nothing was evil enough to hate, and nothing was good enough to die for.”

IfsThinkingSelfEnoughGovernmentAblePoliticalHateDiesEvilCausesPartyCreationNegativeCriminalsSocialismCommunismAppealsIndifferenceOur TimeLiberalismProtestGood EnoughFascismPacksPolitical PartiesGangstersSelf-governmentAnything GoesLive And Let LiveSpineless
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image

“Some representatives of monopolistic capitalism, sensing this evil in their system, have tried to silence criticism by pointing to the diffused ownership in the great corporations. They advertise, "No one owns more than 4 percent of the stock of this great company." Or they print lists of stockholders, showing that these include farmers, schoolteachers, baseball players, taxi drivers, and even babies.”

EvilPoliticsSilenceCompanyEconomyPlayerBabyPercentCapitalismCriticismBaseballListsCorporationsLiberalismPrintDriversFarmersRepresentativesOwnershipPointingTaxiBaseball PlayerGreat CompanySensing
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image

“It is not easy to explain why God permits evil; but it is impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness. How could a spiritless, soul-less, cross-less, Godless universe become the center of faith, purity, sacrifice, and martyrdom? How can decency be the decent thing if there is no God? Since God is love, why should we be surprised that want of it should end in pain, hate, broken hearts, and war?”

IfsWantShouldHeartWarSoulEndsPainHateUniverseEvilEasyExistenceImpossibleSacrificeBrokenGoodnessCrossesAtheistPurityDecentPermitDecencyThere Is No GodMartyrdomGod Is Love
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image

“Evil is thus a kind of parasite on goodness. If there were no good by which to measure things, evil could not exist. Men sometimes forget this, and say, there is so much evil in the world that there cannot be a God. They are forgetting that, if there were no God, they would have no way of distinguishing evil from goodness. The very concept of evil admits and recognizes a Standard, a Whole, a Rule, an Order. Nobody would say that his automobile was out of order if he did not have a conception of how an automobile ought to run.”

IfsMenWorldWayKindSometimesWholeRunningOrderEvilForgetOughtGoodnessStandardsConceptsConceptionAutomobileParasitesSure Thing
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image

“Tolerance is an attitude of reasoned patience towards evil and a forbearance that restrains us from showing anger or inflicting punishment. But what is more important than the definition is the field of its application. The important point here is this: Tolerance applies only to persons but never to truth. Intolerance applies only to truth but never to persons. Tolerance applies to the erring; intolerance to the error.”

PersonsImportantEvilAttitudeFieldsErrorsDefinitionsTolerancePunishmentApplicationIntoleranceForbearanceErring
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image

“Joy is not the same as pleasure or happiness. A wicked and evil man may have pleasure, while any ordinary mortal is capable of being happy. Pleasure generally comes from things, and always through the senses; happiness comes from humans through fellowship. Joy comes from loving God and neighbor. Pleasure is quick and violent, like a flash of lightning. Joy is steady and abiding, like a fixed star. Pleasure depends on external circumstances, such as money, food, travel, etc. Joy is independent of them, for it comes from a good conscience and love of God.”

MenHumansMayJoyEvilStarsPleasureDependsCircumstancesCapableOrdinaryConscienceAnd LoveIndependentNeighborSensesViolentMortalsGod LoveFixedWickedEtcSteadyFlashLightningFellowshipAbidingLoving GodEvil Man
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
Create image