Quotes from Matthew Kelly

Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want. Freedom is the strength of character to do what is good, true, noble, and right. Freedom is the ability to choose and celebrate the-best-version-of-yourself in every moment. Freedom without discipline is impossible.

We become what we celebrate. It is true not only of the life of a person but also of the life of a family. It is true of the life of a nation, and it is true of the life of the Church.

People do stupid things because they mistakenly believe those stupid things will make them happy.

You cannot succeed at anything unless you are willing to delay gratification. This ability and success are intimately linked. ACTION STEP Say no to yourself at least once every day.

You can get good at something just by working hard at it. If you've got some talent and you work hard at it, you can get really, really good at it. But excellence, peak performance, being the best you can be at something—that doesn't happen without coaching.

If you desire to be a person of hope, a person who has the will that what is good might be reality, you must be a person of two things: meaning and action.

We all die, and yet, so often we conduct our lives as if we were going to live forever. If you knew you were going to die one year from today, how would you change your life?

True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. – William Penn –

When we hear our talents calling us forth, we hear the voice of God inviting us to fully participate in the adventure of salvation.

It's uncomfortable to look at ourselves, assess our selfishness and sinfulness, and tell another human being about it.

When you do break through resistance, celebrate that, and then press on to live the life God imagined for you before the beginning of time. And if you ever feel discouraged or defeated, remember this: Every moment is a chance to start anew, a chance to turn it all around.

All of life's regrets come from not having the discipline to overcome resistance and delay gratification in order to build a bigger future. In the same way, when we slay resistance we are always glad we did.

If we are to be happy, it will be as ourselves.

It would be lovely if we could gather up all the evil people and put them together on one island, leaving them to self-destruct in their collective sinfulness.

Four words: Be gentle with yourself. It turns out they are some of the wisest words anyone has ever shared with me.

Being gentle with yourself consists of realizing your faults, failings, and weaknesses, and dealing with them appropriately. God doesn't want us to beat ourselves up. He wants us to press on and try again.

You cannot live without dreams. Dreams foster hope, and hope is one of the forces by which men and women live.

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about redeeming them—every day begin anew.

We are afraid because we don't know how things are going to work out, but things are going to work out.

We become what we celebrate. What are you celebrating?

Personality tendencies and talents should be accepted, but character defects should always be challenged. God loves you as you are—but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.

One of the most important reasons to be gentle with ourselves is because if we cannot forgive ourselves, we will struggle to forgive others. And if we cannot forgive ourselves or others, we will resist even God's forgiveness. When we are gentle with ourselves, when we are patient with ourselves, we develop awareness, and awareness breeds compassion. And every person who ever crosses your path needs a little compassion.

Be gentle with yourself, be gentle with others, and never stop striving to be all that God created you to be: the-very-best-version-of-yourself.

Recuerda lo siguiente en todo momento: ser tú mismo nunca te conducirá a destruirte de ninguna forma o en ningún grado. Ser verdaderamente tú nunca te llevará a una versión minimizada de ti. Y ser tú implica que todo lo que hagas y digas ayudará a otros a convertirse en una versión mejorada de sí mismos.