Clement of Alexandria Quotes

Those who glory in their looks - not in their hearts - dress to please others.

Explain the Scriptures by the Scriptures.

If in this life there are so many ways for purification and repentance, how much more should there be after death! The purification of souls, when separated from the body, will be easier. We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer; to redeem, to rescue, to discipline, is his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life.

He who prohibited the making of a graven image would never himself have made an image in the likeness of holy things [i.e., by creating an image of them here on earth]. Nor is there at all any composite thing or creature endowed with sensation [made by God here on earth] like those in heaven. But the face is a symbol of the rational soul, the wings are the lofty ministers and energies of powers right and left, and the voice is delightful glory in endless contemplation.

But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits, will not desist from the search after truth, till they get the demonstration from the Scriptures themselves.

It is far better to be happy than to have your bodies act as graveyards for animals. Accordingly, the apostle [St.] Matthew partook of seeds, nuts and vegetables, without meat.

It is not your outward appearance that you should beautify, but your soul, adorning it with good works.

The Word of God became man, that thou mayest learn from man how man may become God.

I think that one must approach the Logos Savior, not induced by the fear of punishment and not in the expectation of some kind of a reward, but primarily for the sake of the good in itself. Such will stand on the right in the sanctuary.

We say that knowledge is not mere talk, but a certain divine knowledge, that light which is kindled in the soul as a result of obedience to the commandments, and which reveals all that is in a state of becoming, enables man to know himself and teaches him to become possessed of God.

When the two shall be one, the outside as the inside, and the male and the female neither male nor female.

For the Divine Being cannot be declared as it exists: but as we who are fettered in the flesh were able to listen, so the prophets spake to us; the Lord savingly accommodating Himself to the weakness of men.

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.

Prayer that runs its course till the last day of life needs a strong and tranquil soul.

Prayer is happy company with God.

Now the images and temples constructed by mechanics are made of inert matter, so that they too are inert, material, and profane. Even if you perfect the art, it partakes of mechanical coarseness. Works of art cannot then be sacred and divine.

The law itself exhibits justice and teaches wisdom by abstinence from sensible images and by calling out to the Maker and Father of the universe.

But it is with a different kind of spell that art deludes you ... it leads you to pay religious honor and worship to images and pictures.

And Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, expressly writes: 'For what is Plato, but Moses speaking in Attic Greek.'

He who knows himself knows god.

There is one river of Truth which receives tributaries from every side.

But by no manner of means are women to be allotted to uncover and exhibit any part of their person, lest both fall,-the men by being excited to look, they by drawing on themselves the eyes of the men.

We are not to throw away those things which can benefit our neighbor. Goods are called good because they can be used for good: they are instruments for good, in the hands of those who use them properly.

His Son Jesus, the Word of God, is our Instructor.... He is God and Creator.

If the Lord counts the natural beauty of the body inferior to that of the soul, what thinks He of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does all falsehood?

When lies have been accepted for some time, the truth always astounds with an air of novelty.

If you enroll as one of God's people, then heaven is your country and God your lawgiver.

The Lord has turned all our sunsets into sunrise.

If God rewarded the righteous immediately, we would soon be engaged in business, not godliness...we would be pursuing not piety,but profit.

We must not cast away riches which can benefit our neighbor. Possessions were made to be possessed; goods are called goods because they do good, and they have been provided by God for the good of men: they are at hand and serve as the material, the instruments for a good use in the hand of him who knows how to use them.

Every woman should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman.

For, in truth, an image is only dead matter shaped by the craftsman's hand. But we have no sensible image of sensible matter, but an image that is perceived by the mind alone: God, who alone is truly God.

The Lord ate from a common bowl, and asked the disciples to sit on the grass. He washed their feet, with a towel wrapped around His waist - He, who is the Lord of the universe!

Just as God's will is creation and is called 'the world' so His intention is the salvation of men, and it is called 'the Church.'

'Eat my flesh,' Jesus says, 'and drink my blood.' The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children

He changed sunset into sunrise.

It is absolutely impossible at the same time to be a man of understanding and not to be ashamed to gratify the body.

When you see your brother, you see God.

GOD became man so that we in our turn may become God.

The purified righteous man has become a coin of the Lord, and has the impress of his King stamped upon him.

It is far better to be happy than to have our bodies act as graveyards to animals.

The rule of life for a perfect person is to be in the image and likeness of God.

Above all Christians are not allowed to correct by violence sinful wrongdoings.

All our life is like a day of celebration for us; we are convinced, in fact, that God is always everywhere. We work while singing, we sail while reciting hymns, we accomplish all other occupations of life while praying.

Therefore let us repent and pass from ignorance to knowledge, from foolishness to wisdom, from licentiousness to self-control, from injustice to righteousness, from godlessness to God.