Bernard of Clairvaux Quotes - Page 3

If you would know whether you have made a good confession, ask yourself I you have resolved to abandon your sins.

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.

To serve Mary is a mark of eternal salvation to come.

Love me, love my dog.

Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.

The peacemakers shall be called the sons of God, who came to make peace between God and man. What then shall the sowers of discord be called, but the children of the devil? And what must they look for but their father's portion?

There is no greater misery than false joys.

The tears of those repenting are the wine of angels.

It is a fault, not a virtue, to wish your humility recognized and applauded.

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.

Who loves me will love my dog also.

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.

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.

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.

What I know of the divine science and holy scripture, I learnt in the woods and fields.

Slander is a poison which kills charity, both in the slanderer and the one who listens.

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.

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.

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.

My child, seek those things which make for peace. Cease to stir up the King against the Church, and urge upon him a better course of action. If you will promise to do this, I in return promise to entreat the merciful Lord to grant you offspring.

Hell is full of good wishes or desires.

Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

I know by myself how incomprehensible God is, seeing I cannot comprehend the parts of my own being.

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.

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.