SO GOOD QUOTES

  • “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

    —Thomas Aquinas

  • St. John Chrysostom somewhere exhibits one man who praises another for his good looks, stateliness, wealth, nice house, his excellent choice horses, etc.; and then directs the following speech to him: “Why haven’t you told me anything about the man himself? All that you have described is not him.”

    —St. Theophan the Recluse, The Path to Salvation: A Manual of Spiritual Transformation

  • “But all these should be at the proper times and in due measure. If they are used at the wrong times and to excess, they are useful for a short time. But what is only useful for a short time, is harmful in the long run.”

    —Evagrius Ponticus

  • No One Is Saved Alone

  • Your wishing should always be free from yourself; that is, you should have no wishes of your own, and if you have a wish it must be such that whether it comes to pass or not, or even if what comes to pass is opposed to it, you are not in the least grieved thereby, but remain serene in spirit, as though you wished absolutely nothing.

    Unseen Warfare
    Lorenzo Scupoli

  • “If you do good, you must do it only for God. For this reason you must pay no attention to the ingratitude of people. Expect a reward not here, but from the Lord in heaven. If you expect it here — it will be in vain and you will endure deprivation.”

    —St. Ambrose of Optina

  • In writing down my thought, it sometimes escapes me; but this makes me remember my weakness, that I constantly forget. This is as instructive to me as my forgotten thought; for I strive only to know my nothingness.

    —Blaise Pascal, Pensées

  • “The older you grow, the more quiet you become. Life humbles you gradually as you age.”

    —Marc Chernoff

  • The rich usually imagine that, if they do not physically rob the poor, they are committing no sin. But the sin of the rich consists in not sharing their wealth with the poor. In fact, the rich person who keeps all his wealth for himself is committing a form of robbery. The reason is that in truth all wealth comes from God, and so belongs to everyone equally. The proof of this is all around us. Look at the succulent fruits which the trees and bushes produce. Look at the fertile soil which yields each year such an abundant harvest. Look at the sweet grapes on the vines, which give us wine to drink.  The rich may claim that they own many fields in which fruits and grain grow; but it is God who causes seeds to sprout and mature. The duty of the rich is to share the harvest of their fields with all who work in them and with all in need.

    —St. John Chrysostom, On Living Simply: The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom

  • “What is private always shows itself publicly.”

    — Benjamin P. Hardy