Bernard of Clairvaux famous quotes
Last updated: Jul 22, 2024
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The measure of love is love without measure.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
The true measure of loving God is to love him without measure.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those who love us.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
What we love we shall grow to resemble.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Theirs is an endless road, a hopeless maze, who seek for goods before they seek for God.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Love seeks no cause beyond itself and no fruit; it is its own fruit, its own enjoyment. I love because I love; I love in order that I may love.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Jesus, what made You so small? LOVE!
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to Thee again. We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. O Jesus, ever with us stay, Make all our moments calm and bright; Chase the dark night of sin away, Shed o'er the world Thy holy light.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
What I know of the divine sciences and Holy Scriptures, I learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Many of those who are humiliated are not humble. Some react to humiliation with anger, others with patience, and others with freedom. The first are culpable, the next harmless, the last just.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Pride only, the chief of all iniquities, can make us treat gifts as if they were rightful attributes of our nature, and, while receiving benefits, rob our Benefactor of His due glory.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Wherever...thou shalt be, pray secretly within thyself. If thou shalt be far from a house of prayer, give not thyself trouble to seek for one, for thou thyself art a sanctuary designed for prayer. If thou shalt be in bed, or in any other place, pray there; thy temple is there.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Hell is full of good wishes or desires.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
If you concentrate hard on the state you are in, it would be suprising if you have time for anything else.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
There are some who wish to learn for no other reason than that they may be looked upon as learned, which is ridiculous vanity ... Others desire to learn that they may morally instruct others, that is love. And, lastly, there are some who wish to learn that they may be themselves edified; and that is prudence.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
You wish to see; listen. Hearing is a step toward Vision.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Let us affectionately love His angels as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; Let us only follow them, let us remain close to them, and in the protection of the God of heaven let us abide.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a sceptre but a hoe.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
How beautiful then is modesty and what a gem among virtues it is.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
There are three distinct comings of the Lord of which I know: His coming to men, His coming into men, and His coming against men.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are humiliations the path that leads to humility.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Many appear full of mildness and sweetness as long as everything goes their own way; but the moment any contradiction or adversity arises, they are in a flame, and begin to rage like a burning mountain. Such people as these are like red-hot coals hidden under ashes. This is not the mildness which Our Lord undertook to teach us in order to make us like unto Himself.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
My burden is light," said the blessed Redeemer, a light burden indeed, which carries him that bears it. I have looked through all nature for a resemblance of this, and seem to find a shadow of it in the wings of a bird, which are indeed borne by the creature, and yet support her flight towards heaven.The wings of a bird, which are indeed borne by the creature, and yet support her flight towards heaven
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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True penance consists in regretting without ceasing the faults of the past, and in firmly resolving to never again commit that which is so deplorable.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Let us then cast ourselves at the feet of this good Mother, and embracing them let us not depart until she blesses us, and accepts us for her children.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
God will either give us what we ask, or what He knows to be better for us.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
The spiteful tongue strikes a deadly blow at charity in all who hear him speak and, so far as it can, destroys root and branch, not only in the immediate hearers but also in all others to whom the slander, flying from lip to lip, is afterwards repeated.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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He rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Ingratitude is the soul's enemy... Ingratitude is a burning wind that dries up the source of love, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Prayer is a wine which makes glad the heart of man
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Spiritual life is like living water that springs up from the very depths of our own spiritual experience. In spiritual life everyone has to drink from his or her own well.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Prayer is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
God has aroused the spirit of kings and princes to root up from the earth the enemies of the Christian name. Therefore gird yourselves manfully and take up joyful arms for the name of Christ.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Your actions in passing, pass not away, for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
From the best bliss that earth imparts, we turn unfilled to Thee again.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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God will become visible as God's image is reborn in you.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Prostrate, see Thy cross I grasp,And Thy pierced feet I clasp;Gracious Jesus, spurn me not;On me, with compassion fraught,Let Thy glances fall.Thy cross of agony,My Beloved, look on me;Turn me wholly unto Thee;"Be thou whole," say openly:"I forgive thee all.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Love is alone sufficient by itself, it pleases by itself and for it's own sake. It is itself a merit, and itself it's own recompense. It seeks neither cause, nor consequences beyond itself. It is its own fruit, its own object and usefulness. I love because I love you, I love that I may love.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
There is no greater misery than false joys.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
He won me over entirely by giving Himself entirely to me.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
The piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that I may see the good will of the Lord. And what can I see as I look through the hole? Both the nail and the wound cry out that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself... Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love...
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Let no one believe that he has received the divine kiss, if he knows the truth without loving it or loves it without understanding it. But blessed is that kiss whereby not only is God recognized but also the Father is loved; for there is never full knowledge without perfect love.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Action and contemplation are very close companions; they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha and Mary are sisters.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Persecution shows who is a hireling, and who a true pastor.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Nothing can work me damage except myself.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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The heart of Christ can be seen through the openings of his wounds. For what can prove to me so clearly as your wounds that you, O Lord Jesus, are sweet & mild & plenteous in mercy.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Slander is a poison which kills charity, both in the slanderer and the one who listens.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
It was love that motivated His self-emptying, that led Him to become a little lower than angels, to be subject to parents, to bow His head beneath the Baptist's hands, to endure the weakness of the flesh, and to submit to death even upon the cross
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. For a canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water. In the Church at the present day, we have many canals, few reservoirs.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart,
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
I do a great wrong in His sight, when I beseech Him that He will hear my prayer, which as I give utterance to it, I do not hear myself. I entreat Him that He will think of me; but I regard neither myself nor Him. Nay, what is worse, turning over corrupt and evil thoughts in mine heart, I thrust a dreadful offensiveness into His presence.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
A truly obedient man does not discriminate between one thing and another, since his only aim is to execute faithfully whatever may be assigned to him.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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If you would know whether you have made a good confession, ask yourself I you have resolved to abandon your sins.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
First learn to love yourself, and then you can love me.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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The more I contemplate God, the more God looks on me. The more I pray to him, the more he thinks of me too.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
What I know of the divine science and holy scripture, I learnt in the woods and fields.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Vines and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Do what Jesus says,... what he commands through his ministers who are in the Church [see 1 Cor 6:4]. Be subject to his vicars, your leaders, not only those who are gentle and kind, but even those who are overbearing [see 1 Pt 2:18].
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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It's not as if grace did one half of the work and free choice the other; each does the whole work, in its own peculiar contribution. Grace does the whole work, and so does free choice - with this one qualification: That whereas the whole is done in free choice, so is the whole done of grace.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Obey your bishop! "Obey those set over you [Heb 13:17]," the teachers of the Church.... I remind you, my dear friends, of what I said when I was with you: do not receive any outside or unknown preacher, unless he be sent by your bishop or preaches with the permission of the pope. For "how shall they preach unless they are sent [Rom 10:15]?
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Our King [Jesus] is accused of treachery; it is said of him [by the Muslims] that he is not God, but that he falsely pretended to be something he was not.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Believe one who has tried, you shall find a fuller satisfaction in the woods than in the books. The trees and the rocks will teach you that which you cannot hear from the masters.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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Among us on the earth there is His memory; but in the Kingdom of heaven His very Presence. That Presence is the joy of those who have already attained to beatitude; the memory is the comfort of us who are still wayfarers, journeying towards the Fatherland.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
The rivers of Grace cannot flow uphill, up the steep cliff of the proud man's heart.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
The Eucharist is that love which surpasses all loves in Heaven and on earth
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
The tears of those repenting are the wine of angels.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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there are four degrees of love: 1) Love of self for self's sake. 2) Love of God for self's sake. 3) Love of God for God's own sake. 4) Love of self for God's sake.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
Death is the gate of life. Ingratitude is the soul's enemy... Ingratitude is a burning wind that dries up the source of love, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace. You will find something far greater in the woods than you will find in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
What of the souls already released from their bodies? We believe that they are overwhelmed in that vast sea of eternal light and of luminous eternity
-- Bernard of Clairvaux -
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