Quotes from Michael Novak

Our political institutions work remarkably well. They are designed to clang against each other. The noise is democracy at work.

A friend asks if I know the difference between a saint and a martyr: A saint is someone who radiates goodness and bears no faults. A martyr is someone who lives with a saint.

A man is too insignificant to be preoccupied with his failures. All of the energy he has is required for attending to the loneliness, the pain, the needs of others.

Love is a willingness to sacrifice.

Intercourse is the organic expression of two psyches, not a mechanical plugging in.

The aftertaste of affluence is boredom.

Love is not a feeling of happiness. Love is a willingness to sacrifice.

Our moral and cultural traditions have not kept pace with our economic possibilities. We try to match new demands with a spiritual life not designed for them.

Liberty is the object of the Republic. Liberty needs virtue. Virtue among the people is impossible without religion.