Does not the gratitude of the dog put to shame any man who is ungrateful to his benefactors?
Saint BasilMany a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
Saint BasilThere is nothing unpremeditated, nothing neglected by God. His unsleeping eye beholds all things.
Saint BasilJust as we would have no need of the farmer's labor and toil if we were living amid the delights of paradise, so also we would not require the medical art for relief if we were immune to disease, as was the case, by God's gift, at the time of Creation before the Fall.
Saint BasilEvery divine action begins from the Father, proceeds through the Son, and is completed in the Holy Spirit.
Saint BasilThe bread which you hold back belongs to the hungry; the coat, which you guard in your locked storage-chests, belongs to the naked; the footwear mouldering in your closet belongs to those without shoes. The silver that you keep hidden in a safe place belongs to the one in need. Thus, however many are those whom you could have provided for, so many are those whom you wrong.
Saint Basil