Quotes

A collection of scriptural meditations from Saints and Fathers of the Church.

Solitude

The arrows of the enemy cannot touch one who loves quietness; but he who moves about in a crowd will often be wounded.

St. Nilus of Sinai

Tests

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Self-Knowledge

One who is capable of seeing himself is better than one who has been made worthy to see angels.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Solitude

Solitude offers us an excellent opportunity for calming our passions and giving our reason time to remove them thoroughly from our soul. For just as wild animals can be soothed by being stroked, so all our anger, fear and stress, which poison and disrupt our soul, can be soothed by an atmosphere of peace where the freedom from constant disturbance ensures that our soul can be brought more easily under the power of reason.

St. Basil the Great

Tests

Grace always precedes temptation, as if to notify you saying, 'Prepare yourself and lock your doors.'

Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Tests

Knowing the exact nature of everything, God permits each person to be tested according to his strength. As St. Paul puts it: 'God is to be trusted not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial He will provide a way out, so that you are able to bear it' (1 Cor. 10:13).

St. Macarius the Great

Solitude

Nothing is better for rendering the heart penitent and the soul humble than wise solitude and complete silence.

St. Gregory of Sinai

Tests

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

St. Mark the Ascetic

Solitude

Every man that loves God loves a quiet life.

St. Isaac the Syrian

Knowledge

If someone is judged worthy to receive the gift of knowledge but allows his heart to be full of bitterness or rancor or aversion to another, it is as if he had been struck in the eye by a thornbush. That is why knowledge is no good without charity.

St. Maximus the Confessor

Self-Knowledge

Self-knowledge is a true idea of one's spiritual growth, and an unbroken remembrance of one's slightest sins.

St. John Climacus

Solitude

Nothing so fills the heart with contrition and humbles the soul as solitude embraced with self-awareness, and utter silence.

St. Gregory of Sinai

Solitude

A fish swiftly escapes a hook and a sensual soul shuns solitude.

St. John Climacus

Knowledge

If you have received from God the gift of knowledge, however limited, beware of neglecting charity and temperance. They are virtues which radically purify the soul from passions and so open the way of knowledge continually.

St. Maximus the Confessor

Self-Knowledge

Nothing is better than to realize one's weakness and ignorance, and nothing is worse than not to be aware of them.

St. Peter of Damascus

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The arrows of the enemy cannot touch one who loves quietness; but he who moves about in a crowd will often be wounded.

As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a test.

One who is capable of seeing himself is better than one who has been made worthy to see angels.

Grace always precedes temptation, as if to notify you saying, 'Prepare yourself and lock your doors.'

Knowing the exact nature of everything, God permits each person to be tested according to his strength. As St. Paul puts it: 'God is to be trusted not to let you be tried beyond your strength, but with the trial He will provide a way out, so that you are able to bear it' (1 Cor. 10:13).

Nothing is better for rendering the heart penitent and the soul humble than wise solitude and complete silence.

When tested by some trial you should try to find out not why or through whom it came, but only how to endure it gratefully, without distress or rancor.

Every man that loves God loves a quiet life.

If someone is judged worthy to receive the gift of knowledge but allows his heart to be full of bitterness or rancor or aversion to another, it is as if he had been struck in the eye by a thornbush. That is why knowledge is no good without charity.

Self-knowledge is a true idea of one's spiritual growth, and an unbroken remembrance of one's slightest sins.

Nothing so fills the heart with contrition and humbles the soul as solitude embraced with self-awareness, and utter silence.

A fish swiftly escapes a hook and a sensual soul shuns solitude.

If you have received from God the gift of knowledge, however limited, beware of neglecting charity and temperance. They are virtues which radically purify the soul from passions and so open the way of knowledge continually.

Nothing is better than to realize one's weakness and ignorance, and nothing is worse than not to be aware of them.

"Mayest thou [Cyprian] look down from above propitiously upon us, and guide our word and life; and shepherd [or shepherd with me] this sacred flock... gladdening us with a more perfect and clear illumination of the Holy Trinity, before Which thou standest."

St. Gregory the Theologian

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