Probably she will be hunted; some rake will laugh at me and possess himself of my money." Excited by his gloomy thoughts, he gave vent to an interjection both caustic and obscene, a memory of his soldiering days; in the presence of the gardener's widow there was no need to control himself, and the old woman was accustomed to this relief of his temper.
"Let us see," he said imperiously after a long silence.

"You, who know me better than anyone, am I as bad as my enemies suppose?
Do I deserve that the Lord should punish me for my faults?
You are one of God's souls, simple and good, and you know more of all this by your instinct than all the doctors of theology." "You bad, Don Sebastian?
Holy Jesus! You are a man like all others, neither more nor less; but you are sincere, all of one piece, without deceit or hypocrisy." "A man--you have said it.

I am a man like the rest.

We who attain a certain height are like the saints on the fronts of the churches: from below we cause admiration for our beauty, but viewed closely we cause horror from the ugliness of the stones corroded by time.

However much we wish to sanctify ourselves, keeping ourselves apart, we are still nothing but men--creatures of flesh and blood like those who surround us.
"In the Church those who free themselves from human passion are most rare.