Bernard of Clairvaux Quotes
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Your actions in passing, pass not away, for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life.
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Humility in furs is better than pride in tunics.
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Vines and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.
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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.
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Prayer is a wine which makes glad the heart of man.
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Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.
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Thus understanding and love, that is, the knowledge of and delight in the truth, are, as it were, the two arms of the soul, with which it embraces and comprehends with all the saints the length and breath, the height and depth, that is the eternity, the love, the goodness, and the wisdom of God.
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True love does not demand a reward, but it deserves one.
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All things are possible to one who believes.
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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.
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The measure of love is love without measure.
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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.
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Action and contemplation are very close companions; they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha and Mary are sisters.
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Prayer is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations.
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Grace is necessary to salvation, free will equally so - but grace in order to give salvation, free will in order to receive it.
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And truly, O man, if you concentrate hard on the state you are in it will be surprising if you have time for anything else.
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I know by myself how incomprehensible God is, seeing I cannot comprehend the parts of my own being.
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What I know of the divine science and holy scripture, I learnt in the woods and fields.
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He rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.