Notes from Wikiquote
As a grain of sand cannot counterbalance a great quantity of gold | so in comparison God’s use of justice cannot counterbalance His mercy. | As a handful of sand thrown into the great sea | so are the sins of all flesh in comparison with the mind of God. | And just as a strongly flowing spring is not obstructed by a handful of dust | so the mercy of the Creator is not stemmed by the vices of His creatures. | As a man who sows in the sea and expects to reap a harvest | so is he who remembers wrongs and prays. | As the flame of fire cannot be checked from rising upward | so the prayers of the merciful are not hindered from ascending to Heaven. | The current of a stream runs swiftly in a narrow place | and likewise the force of anger whenever it finds a place in our mind. | Homily 51, pp. 379-80