Bernard of Clairvaux Quotes
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True love does not demand a reward, but it deserves one.
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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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All things are possible to one who believes.
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So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot even answer for my righteousness!
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He rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.
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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.
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Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.
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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.
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Learn first to love yourself, and then you can love me.
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You wish to see; listen. Hearing is a step toward Vision.
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Nothing can work me damage except myself. The harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault.
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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.
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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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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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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.
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Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.
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God will either give us what we ask, or what He knows to be better for us.
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Pride causes us to use our gifts as though they came from ourselves, not benefits received from God, and to usurp our benefactor's glory.
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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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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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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.
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The three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility.
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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.
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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.