Pope John XXIII

Clergyman

1881-11-25 – 1963-06-03

Pope John XXIII was head of the Catholic Church from 1958 to 1963. He is known for convening the Second Vatican Council.

Quotes by Pope John XXIII

You must know that it is by the state of the lavatory that a family is judged.
Read quote
I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.
Read quote
... just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
Read quote
If God created shadows it was to better emphasise the light.
Read quote
... just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
Read quote
I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.
Read quote
If God created shadows it was to better emphasise the light.
Read quote
You must know that it is by the state of the lavatory that a family is judged.
Read quote
The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms, but in mutual trust alone.
Read quote
I am able to follow my own death step by step. Now I move softly towards the end.
Read quote
In this world of ours, every believer must be a spark of light, a center of love, a vivifying ferment for the mass; and it will be that all the more as, in the depths of his being, he lives in communion with God.
Read quote
The council now beginning rises in the Church like the daybreak, a forerunner of most splendid light.
Read quote
Men are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
Read quote
Authority is mainly a moral power; therefore, it must first call upon the conscience, that is, upon the duty that each person has to contribute willingly to the common good.
Read quote
Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
Read quote
See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.
Read quote
See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little.
Read quote
It often happens that I wake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must talk to the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.
Read quote
Anybody can be Pope; the proof is that I have become one.
Read quote
The conviction that all men are equal by reason of their natural dignity has been generally accepted. Hence racial discrimination can no longer be justified.
Read quote