(Rieux): "But you don't believe in God."
(Tarrou): "Exactly! Can one be a saint without God?--that's the problem, in fact the only problem, I'm up against today."
-Albert Camus, The Plague (1947)
* * *
(Thomas Merton): "I guess what I want is to be a good Catholic."
(Robert Lax): "What do you mean, you want to be a good Catholic? What you should say is that you want to be a saint."
(TM): "How do you expect me to become a saint?"
(RL): "By wanting to. All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don't you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if you will consent to let Him do it? All you have to do is desire it."
-Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948)