“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.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“hell is full of good wishes and desires.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“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.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs I
“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.”
πΏ ― St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“What we love we shall grow to resemble.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself ... Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare ... You too must learn to await this fullness before pouring out your gifts, do not try to be more generous than God.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs
“What I know of the divine
science and holy scripture,
I learnt in the woods and fields.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“What I know of the divine sciences and the Holy Scriptures, I have learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.”
πΏ ― St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“Blessed," he says, "are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Mt 5:9). Consider carefully that it is not the people who call for peace but those who make peace who are commended. For there are those who talk but do nothing (Mt 23:3). For just as it is not the hearers of the law but the doers who are righteous (Rom 2:13), so it is not those who preach peace but the authors of peace who are blessed.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“A saint is not someone who never sins, but one who sins less and less frequently and gets up more and more quickly.”
πΏ ― St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“To shame our sins He blushed in blood;
He closed His eyes to show us God;
Let all the world fall down and know
That none but God such love can show”
πΏ Bernard of Clairvaux
“There is no greater misery than false joys.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“Vines and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.”
πΏ ― St. Bernard, Honey and Salt: Selected Spiritual Writings
“Jesus the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills my breast;
But sweeter far Thy face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“I have ascended to the highest in me, and look, the Word is towering above that. I have descended to explore my lowest depths, and I found Him deeper still.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“If you concentrate hard on the state you are in, it would be suprising if you have time for anything else. ”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works
“Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a sceptre but a hoe.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot even answer for my righteousness!”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“The more I contemplate God, the more God looks on me. The more I pray to him, the more he thinks of me too.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“Qui me amat, amet et canem meum. (Who loves me will love my dog also.)”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.”
πΏ ― Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
“Rest is in Him alone. Man knows no peace in the world; but he has no disturbance when he is with God.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God
“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.”
πΏ ― St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“In Him should all our affections center, so that in all things we should seek only to do His will, not to please ourselves.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God
“The reason for loving God is God Himself. As to how He is to be loved, there is only one measure: It is immeasurable!”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God
“O wretched slaves of Mammon, you cannot glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ while you trust in treasures laid up on earth: you cannot taste and see how gracious the Lord is, while you are hungering for gold. If you have not rejoiced at the thought of His coming, that day will be indeed a day of wrath to you.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God
“To them that long for the presence of the living God, the thought of Him is sweetest itself: but there is no satiety, rather an ever-increasing appetite...”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God
“Expertus potest credere.”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
“Nihil nescit omnium quae in coelo et quae in terra sunt, praeter se ipsum.
-EPISTOLA CXCIII”
πΏ ― Bernard of Clairvaux
