“Why should we take advice on sex from the pope? If he knows anything about it, he shouldn't!”

“You love the Pope, don't you, Paddy?" Tom is staring at me."Why, I do not know," I say, surprised into honesty. "I hardly know about him. Only he did not send help to us when we were hungry at home. Perhaps he did not know.”

“I know hardly anything about Galahad except that everybody dislikes him.""Dislikes him?""They complain about him being inhuman."Lancelot considered his cup."He is inhuman," he said at last. "But why should he be human? Are angels supposed to be human?”

“Mamma, don't you see -- you shouldn't hit me. He shouldn't hit me. You shouldn't hit me about God, Mamma. You should never hit anybody about God . . . .”

“The Pope replied, “of what should we not be afraid? We should not fear the truth about ourselves.” He spoke of how Saint Peter himself, the rock on which Christ had built his church, had told Christ to leave him, “for I am a sinful man.” Peter was a sinful man. We all are, including popes. We are imperfect and “our hearts are anxious.” But we cannot and should not let the fact of our unworthiness and flaws and failures build that wall with a kind of inverted pride that says, Oh, I’m so unworthy, and I’d know how unworthy I am better than you would.”

“Don't ever write anything you don't like yourself and if you do like it, don't take anyone's advice about changing it. They just don't know.”