"We are better than we think, and so are others.

There is a measure, difficult enough to find, between optimism, which sees only the good, and pessimism, which sees only the bad. Evil is more visible than good because it's on the surface, but good wins out in the end.

When we have the opportunity to speak intimately with someone, we're always favorably surprised: they're better than we thought. So let's believe in the good in ourselves, and believe in the good in others. These are divine views. The world was terribly evil when Jesus came, and that evil didn't stop him. So we must no longer fear ourselves or others. We need to look real life in the face. It's a deep and prolonged look that will give us God; for God is at the bottom of everything."

A Carthusian