SO GOOD QUOTES

  • Our continual mistake is that we do not concentrate upon the present day, the actual hour, of our life; we live in the past or the future; we are continually expecting the coming of some special moment when our life will unfold itself in its full significance. And we do not notice that life is flowing like water through our fingers, sifting like precious grain from a loosely fastened bag.

    Constantly, each day, each hour, God is sending us people, circumstances, tasks, which should mark the beginning of our renewal; yet we pay them no attention, and thus continually we resist God’s will for us. Indeed, how can God help us? Only by sending us in our daily life certain people, and certain coincidences of circumstance. If we accepted every hour of our life as the hour of God’s will for us, as the decisive, most important, unique hour of our life – what sources of joy, love, strength, as yet hidden from us, would spring from the depth of our soul!

    Let us then be serious in our attitude towards each person we meet in our life, towards every opportunity of performing a good deed; be sure that you will then fulfill God’s will for you in these very circumstances, on that very day, in that very hour.

    —Alexander Elchaninov, The Diary of a Russian Priest

    There are zero coincidences, right? If I understand the whole universe is operating under God’s provision, then actually, there are literally no coincidences. So that’s why, actually, even from an Orthodox perspective, how should I look at things? There are really no coincidences. Things are, you know, planned, or things are, at least, are happening, if not with God’s, you know, explicit desire and will, but with his permission.

    —Fr. Theodore

    Every encounter is an encounter in God and in his sight. We are sent everyone we meet on our way, either to give or to receive, sometimes without even knowing it. It is for us to be Christʼs presence on earth, sometimes victorious and sometimes crucified. We must be able to be quiet and meditative, look calmly at all the things that puzzle us, for we will not be able to understand everything until we see Godʼs whole plan… Human wisdom must give way to the capacity to contemplate the mystery before us, to try and discern the invisible hand of God whose wisdom is so different from human wisdom. But his wisdom is in the human heart…. We must learn to wait till we understand. We must try and discern Godʼs plan by attentive prayer and silent meditation….

    —Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Courage to Pray

    “Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.”

    — Saint Augustine

    “Every person you meet, God has sent your way for your spiritual benefit — if you realise how you can benefit from them. The righteous man offers you a good example and a blessing, and from the evil man you can benefit endurance, patience and forgiveness of others.”

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III

  • I felt that my whole life was bound to go on in the same solitude and helpless dreariness, from which I myself had no strength and even no wish to escape.

    —Leo Tolstoy, Family Happiness

  • If you meet with inattention or even disdain from strangers, do not be hurt or take offense at it, but say to yourself: “I am worthy of this. Glory to Thee, my Lord, that Thou hast granted unto me, an unworthy one, to receive dishonor from men like unto myself!”

    —St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ

  • “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

    — Mother Teresa

  • If you are constantly canceling plans with your friends, not following through, neglecting to answer messages for days and weeks on end, ignoring invitations, and not showing up for people at very important moments in their lives — that’s not introversion, that’s isolation.
    …
    Real introversion is not rude or selfish, nor does it involve the complete disregard of other people’s needs.
    Those behaviors only happen when we’re isolating. We usually isolate first if we have been hurt, and then more often if we do not want to be held accountable for some set of behaviors we know aren’t the best though we can’t seem to get a hold of them.

    The Difference Between Being an Introvert and Isolating Yourself

  • In short, I live a selfish bachelor’s life. I work for myself alone, and care only for myself. This is certainly very comfortable, although dull, narrow, and lifeless.

    Tchaikovsky on Depression and Finding Beauty Amid the Wreckage of the Soul

  • Love is the solution to every problem, the motive for all good.

    —Carlo Carretto, Letters from the Desert

  • There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our life. It seems that there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy, but that, even in the most happy moments of our existence, we sense a tinge of sadness.  In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of its limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness.

    —Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

  • If we listen to our neighbor with only half our attention, of course we will not be able to answer them or comfort them….We are distracted. They talk, but we do not participate in the conversation; we are immersed in our own thoughts. But if we give them our full attention, then we take up both our own burden and theirs.

    —Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

  • We cannot find our way to true freedom in isolation. Silence without speaking is as dangerous as solitude without community. They belong together.

    —Henri Nouwen