Léon Bloy

Woe to him who has not begged!God begs. The Angels beg. Kings, Prophets, and Saints beg.

— Léon Bloy

Ah! The happy ones of this world who are assured their daily bread—that is, all the things necessary to bodily life—and who, not wishing to know Jesus, have never for one single instant had the idea of suffering for their brothers, of sacrificing themselves for the wretched: ah! indeed! such people are assuredly well qualified to judge me and to reproach me for not having what the world calls dignity!

— Léon Bloy

My anger is the effervescence of my pity.

— Léon Bloy

Unhappy writer, you had dreamt of winning souls and you have won nothing but ears!

— Léon Bloy

You had hoped that the beloved and noble images flowing from your heart would serve as a river to carry to God many another heart! But, as you see, people are afraid of getting wet.

— Léon Bloy

One sees the world's evil accurately only by exaggerating it.

— Léon Bloy

A perfectly true thought, expressed in very sound terms, can satisfy the reason without giving any impression of the Beautiful; but in that case certainly there is something false in its statement. It is essential that Truth be in Glory. Splendor of style is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

— Léon Bloy

Of the truths which embarrass him he thinks it better to remain unaware.

— Léon Bloy

The Bourgeois who has religious feelings sees very clearly the absolute necessity of serving two masters at the same time in order to achieve success in his business, which naturally comes before everything else.

— Léon Bloy

The rich have a horror of Poverty because they have a dim foreboding of the expiatory interchange implied by her presence.

— Léon Bloy

The exercise of freedom consists in stripping oneself of one's own will.

— Léon Bloy

You are always on the right side when you are with those who suffer persecution and injustice.

— Léon Bloy