Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Graham Greene Bio

I'm reading Leopoldo Duran's portrait of the writer Graham Greene....Some tasty tidbits:

We moved on to the genius of [John Henry] Newman. We all agreed that he may perhaps have been the greatest figure of the nineteenth century. The works of his that we rated most highly were Apologia Pro Vita Sua and The Idea of a University. Graham had read both these books more than once at his leisure...Graham asked me whether I remembered Newman's advice about seminaries: "All seminarists should read literature. Why? So as to avoid the 'shocks' of later life."

And on the now famous non-meeting with Padre Pio (now St. Pio):

A friend of Graham's wanted to take him to the sacristy before or after the Mass so that he could meet Padre Pio, but he refused because he was frightened of finding himself face to face with a saint. Later, Padre Pio asked Graham's friend: 'What became of your English friend, the one who would not dare to come and see me?'

Nobody had previously said a word to Padre Pio about this 'English friend'.