SO GOOD QUOTES

Category: ANGER

  • One of his brother monks offended him very deeply so that he came and said to me: “Should I go and tell him off?!”

    So I said to him, “If his conscience is alive he will come of his
    own accord to apologise to you. Otherwise there is no use in
    telling him off. It will probably make this end up worse.

    However, if he is really ignorant of the seriousness of what he
    has done, it would be better for a third party to intercede
    between you in this matter, to explain to him the extent of his offence.

    Whatever the case, it is better for you to wait, and who knows, you might be lucky enough to forget him and forget his offence!”

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Experiences in Life

  • If you are faithful in loving your relative, God will set you over loving the enemy. He will give you the grace which enables you to love your enemy.

    —Pope Shenouda III, Words of Spiritual Benefit Vol. 1

  • To Abba Pambo, who asked him, “What ought I to do?”  the old man said: “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.”

    The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
    Henri Nouwen

  • “If you do good to one person, you may be wronged by another and so feel injured, and say or do something stupid, thus dissipating by your bad action what you gained by your good action. This is just what the demons want; so always be attentive.”

    —Evagrios the Solitary

  • And beware you do not blindly insist that things must work out according to what you consider to be right and good. God sometimes does permit such blind insistence to be followed by the fulfilment of our ardent desires. This always leads to misery and disaster (intended to open our eyes on our folly), and happens particularly often when our desires are founded on wild passions.

    Letters of Elder Macarius of Optina

  • After a careful study of your disposition, which life has encouraged you to undertake, you have at last come to see that you have never loved; nor do you know or understand anything about love.

    Letters of Elder Macarius of Optina

  • Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear with each other’s faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light that fire in the hearts of others. And it is love that will burn out the sins and hatreds that sadden us. It is love that will make us want to do great things for each other. No sacrifice and no suffering will then seem too much. Yes, I see only too clearly how bad people are. I wish I did not see it so. It is my own sins that give me such clarity.

    —Dorothy Day

  • Do not say, I have given you much advice, but it’s useless; you should have long-suffering.

    Hearken to the apostle, saying, “…uphold the weak, be patient with all” (1 Thess. 5:14). Overcoming a deep-rooted struggle needs time and patience, so be patient with the weak until God’s grace visits and delivers them. Remember that you also have a similar nature, and put before you the words of the apostle, “Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Heb. 13:3).

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Life of Hope

  • “Do not offend others, even in your thoughts.”

    — Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

  • In Ephesians 4:25, Saint Paul says, “Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor.” If I come to ask if you are upset with me, and you answer, “No, nothing is wrong,” but in your heart you are upset, then you are lying. If I ask you if something is wrong, you could answer, “Yes, actually something is bothering me.” The verse continues, “For we are members of one another. Be angry, and do not sin.”

    —H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, Inner Healing