Pope John XXIII quotes

Pope John XXIII was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Known for convening the Second Vatican Council, he sought to modernize church practices and promote dialogue. He is remembered for his warmth, humility, and significant impact on the direction of the Catholic Church. Here are 19 of his quotes:

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. (Pope John XXIII)
The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms, but in mutual trust alone. View quote
Pope John XXIII
Men are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age. View quote
Pope John XXIII
It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. View quote
Pope John XXIII
It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope. View quote
Pope John XXIII
[Peace must be] founded on truth, built according to justice, vivified and integrated by charity, and put into practice in freedom. View quote
Pope John XXIII
See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little. View quote
Pope John XXIII
I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart. View quote
Pope John XXIII
Italians come to ruin most generally in three ways, women, gambling, and farming. My family chose the slowest one. View quote
Pope John XXIII
A peaceful man does more good than a learned one. View quote
Pope John XXIII
The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me good company. (Pope John XXIII)
Every man has the right to life, to bodily integrity. View quote
Pope John XXIII
It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity. It is for you to observe her with renewed and friendly attention. View quote
Pope John XXIII
Born poor, but of honored and humble people, I am particularly proud to die poor. View quote
Pope John XXIII
Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one. View quote
Pope John XXIII
The council now beginning rises in the Church like the daybreak, a forerunner of most splendid light. View quote
Pope John XXIII
I am able to follow my own death step by step. Now I move softly towards the end. View quote
Pope John XXIII
Here I am at the end of the road and at the top of the heap. View quote
Pope John XXIII
From the saints I must take the substance, not the accidents of their virtues. I am not St. Aloysius, nor must I seek holiness in his particular way, but according to the requirements of my own nature, my own character and the different conditions of my life. I must not be the dry, bloodless reproduction of a model, however perfect. God desires us to follow the examples of the saints by absorbing the vital sap of their virtues and turning it into our own life-blood, adapting it to our own individual capacities and particular circumstances. If St. Aloysius had been as I am, he would have become holy in a different way. View quote
Pope John XXIII