Quotes

There exist those who are given and those who give. Only God gives and is simultaneously given; only God gives Himself; however, man does not give himself; he gives from the graces he has been given. He whom that gives man is God. Every human being has been given the possibility of being given and has even been given the substance for being given. (p. 17)

Those who are confident of their existence do not envy others and do not hold feelings of animosity toward those others. Those who are confident of their existence do not want to erase the existence of others. Those who are confident of their existence have their hearts wide-open to the existence of others, and even greet and are delighted and enriched by this existence. (p. 13)

History, as far as it actually exists, by this I mean as far as it is continuous, consistent, and defined, and thus, as far as it is not adulterated, proves the presence of a definite, ever-present, and effective self. (p. 13)

Those who praise God are the faithful and patient people, and not emperors, patriarchs, or clergymen. One does not feel the presence of Cesar-like figure or patriarch, even if this Cesar-like figure or patriarch is present. One feels himself sitting amongst widows and orphans, workers and peasants, sinners and lost souls, and humble spirits. One feels the simple and ordinary man, the one laden with worries who is in touch with the earth and nature, and who knows nothing and does not care to know anything about theology or philosophy, or the glory of the vanishing world. This ordinary man is the one whose heart and soul soar, draws Christ toward him, and receives the immaculate face of the Virgin Mary. (p. 8)

Yet, persuading and being persuaded can only be achieved in a genuine environment of human freedom. Therefore, we realize that freedom cannot be derived or extracted from without. Neither is it manifested in elements to which it is unfamiliar. It is the trunk and branches; it is the beginning and the end. When there is no freedom from the beginning, freedom cannot magically manifest from nothing at the end. From the beginning, you are either free in the quintessence of your existentiality—hence, every aspect of freedom in your life will burst forth from your authentic freedom—or enslaved in the quintessence of your existentiality—hence, every aspect of obscurity and slavery in your life will burst forth from your authentic slavery. (p. 5)

Freedom is a blessing bestowed from above. Freedom cannot be obtained, it is rather bequeathed. Freedom is accepted with gratitude, it is not forcefully taken. Freedom contagiously flows in the veins of free minds. (p. 5)

If free Christianity falls in Lebanon—and Lebanon is the last sanctuary of Christianity in the East—it will disappear not only across the Middle East, but also in Asia and Africa. (p. 4)

What makes men truly more human if not the value of existential freedom? O people, call this value the ‘greatest’ if you can! (p. 4)

In our day and age, it is an extremely perilous situation that in the entire Middle East Christianity is only truly free in Lebanon—free not through illusions and undue assumptions, but free in exactly the same way as it is in Europe and in America. (p. 4)

A free Lebanon is of priceless value in the general existential-humanistic design of the Middle East, and the Maronites are entrusted with this value, perhaps even more than others are. (3)

I come from a country and a people who have known more history than any other people. I tell you the excitement of time is important only if measured on the peace of eternity. What matters in the end is that which abides, that which remains immovable when everything else moves, even if it should be moved by it. And this is none other than the eternal spirit of truth and love, reaching for man, claiming and forgiving him, and sealing him with the seal of its adoption. For I tell you man will die unless, remembering his origin, awakening to his plight, he is constantly replenished, amidst tears of joy, by celestial food. (p. 244)

I know how embarrassing this matter is to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, and cynics; but, whatever these men think, the irrefutable truth is that the soul of America is, at its best and highest, Christian. (p. 243)