Thomas A. Kempis

“Those who attempt to search into the majesty of God will be overwhelmed with His Glory!”

“Bear patiently your exile and the dryness of your mind. The time will come when I will make you forget these painful moments and you will enjoy inward quietness. I will open the Bible for you and you will be thrilled by your new understanding of my truth.”

“God hath thus ordered it, that we may learn to bear one another’s burdens; for no man is without fault, no man without his burden, no man sufficient of himself, no man wise enough of himself; but we ought to bear with one another, comfort one another, help, instruct, and admonish one another.”

“Love is a great thing, yea, a great and thorough good.By itself it makes that which is heavy light;and it bears evenly all that is uneven.It carries a burden which is no burden;it will not be kept back by anything low and mean;It desires to be free from all wordly affections,and not to be entangled by any outward prosperity,or by any adversity subdued.Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble,attempts what is above its strength,pleads no excuse of impossibility.It is therefore able to undertake all things,and it completes many things and warrants them to take effect,where he who does not love would faint and lie down.Though weary, it is not tired;though pressed it is not straightened;though alarmed, it is not confounded;but as a living flame it forces itself upwards and securely passes through all.Love is active and sincere, courageous, patient, faithful, prudent, and manly.”

“All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.”

“As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he who turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and changed into a new man.”

“I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it.”

“In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro.(Everywhere I have sought peace and not found it, except in a corner with a book.)”

“O quam salubre, quam iucundum et suave est sedere in solitudine et tacere et loqui cum Deo!”

“Jesus has now many lovers of the heavenly kingdom but few bearers of His cross.”

“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”

“If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.”

“Wherever you go, there you are.”

“At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done.”

“A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.”

“Every time I catch myself trying to figure out other people's motives, I'll stop and ask myself: "What did I say or do that prompted the action? Why did I react to it as I did? Does what happened make a major difference to me, or am I making something big out of a trifle?"Leave off that excessive desire of knowing; therein is found much distraction There are many things the knowledge of which is of little or no profit to the soul.”

“A barrage of words does not make the soul happy, but a good life gladdens the mind and a pure conscience generates a bountiful confidence in God.”