A clean handle on a dirty bucket

Even when the will is perverse – even when a creature is enthralled and captivated by one great sinful adhesion, which makes one’s days a flight from God toward lust or power – even then some few good and commendable acts contradict one’s general attitude. These isolated acts of virtue are like a clean handle on a dirty bucket; with them, God can lift a soul to His peace.

 — Fulton Sheen (1895–1979), from Lift Up Your Heart