Bernard of Clairvaux Quotes

He rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.

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

God will become visible as God's image is reborn in you.

The three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility.

Humility is, of all graces, the chiefest when it does not know itself to be a grace at all.

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

Therefore gird yourselves manfully and take up joyful arms for the name of God.

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.

Love me, love my dog.

Prayer is a wine which makes glad the heart of man

A truly obedient man does not discriminate between one thing and another, since his only aim is to execute faithfully whatever may be assigned to him.

Grace is necessary to salvation, free will equally so - but grace in order to give salvation, free will in order to receive it.

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.

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.

Hell is full of good wishes or desires.

Theirs is an endless road, a hopeless maze, who seek for goods before they seek for God.

The tears of those repenting are the wine of angels.

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.

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.

Have death always before your eyes as a salutary means of returning to God.

As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are humiliations the path that leads to humility.

Inordinate love for the flesh is cruelty, because under the appearance of pleasing the body, we kill the soul.

There is no greater misery than false joys.

All things are possible to one who believes.

The true measure of loving God is to love him without measure.

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.

Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.

For I have learnt for a fact that nothing so effectively obtains, retains and regains grace, as that we should always be found not high-minded before God, but filled with holy fear.

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.

Prayer is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations.

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.

Love of Mary and devotion to her are a sure sign of obtaining eternal salvation.

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

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

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.

We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable.

The more I contemplate God, the more God looks on me. The more I pray to him, the more he thinks of me too.

Jesus, what made You so small? LOVE!

With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.

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.

Understanding is the sure and clear knowledge of some invisible thing.

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.

Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a sceptre but a hoe.

Vines and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.

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

What I know of the divine sciences and Holy Scriptures, I learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.

Action and contemplation are very close companions; they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha and Mary are sisters.

God will either give us what we ask, or what He knows to be better for us.