Teresa of Avila Quotes

Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.

May God protect me from gloomy saints.

I was living an extremely burdensome life, because every time I prayed, I became more clearly aware of my faults. On the one hand, God was calling me. On the other, I was following the way of the world. Doing what God wanted made me happy; but I felt bound by the things of this world.

Patience obtains everything.

All times are dangerous times.

I had a father and mother, who were devout and feared God. Our Lord also helped me with His grace. All this would have been enough to make me good, if I had not been so wicked.

We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.

Our souls may lose their peace and even disturb other people's, if we are always criticizing trivial actions - which often are not real defects at all, but we construe them wrongly through our ignorance of their motives.

Don't imagine that, if you had a great deal of time, you would spend more of it in prayer. Get rid of that idea; it is no hindrance to prayer to spend your time well.

Don't let your sins turn into bad habits.

Blessed be He, Who came into the world for no other purpose than to suffer.

There is no affliction, trial, or labor difficult to endure, when we consider the torments and sufferings which Our Lord Jesus Christ endured for us.

We are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in His presence in a very different sense.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out his compassion to the world. Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.

In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.

Life is to life in such a way that we are not afraid to die.

Do not be dismayed, daughters, at the number of things that you have to consider before setting out on this divine journey, which is the royal road to heaven. By taking this road we gain such precious treasures that it is no wonder if the cost seems to us a high one. The time will come when we shall realize that all we have paid has been nothing at all by comparison with the greatness of our prizes.

To converse with You, O King of glory, no third person is needed, You are always ready in the Sacrament of the Altar to give audience to all. All who desire You always find You there, and converse with You face to face

I made you, dear, and all I make is perfect. Please come close, for I desire you.

How friendly we should all be with one another if nobody were interested in money and honor.

Be kind to all and severe to thyself.

To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.

Humility does not disturb or disquiet or agitate, however great it may be; it comes with peace, delight, and calm. . . . The pain of genuine humility doesn't agitate or afflict the soul; rather, this humility expands it and enables it to serve God more.

In a state of grace, the soul is like a well of limpid water, from which flow only streams of clearest crystal. Its works are pleasing both to God and man, rising from the River of Life, beside which it is rooted like a tree.

It is a most certain truth, that the richer we see ourselves to be, confessing at the same time our poverty, the greater will be our progress, and the more real our humility.

We cannot be sure if we are loving God, although we may have good reasons for believing that we are, but we can know quite well if we are loving our neighbor. And be certain that, the farther advanced you find you are in this, the greater the love you will have for God.

I am quite sure I am more afraid of people who are themselves terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.

Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All things pass; God never changes. Patience attains All that it strives for.

Jacob did not cease to be a Saint because he had to attend to his flocks.

Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life. . . . If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.

Love makes labour light. Love alone gives value to all things.

God has no hands or feet or voice except ours and through these He works.

So dearly does His Majesty love us that He will reward our love for our neighbor by increasing the love which we bear to Himself, and that in a thousand ways.

As to the aridity you are suffering from, it seems to me our Lord is treating you like someone He considers strong: He wants to test you and see if you love Him as much at times of aridity as when He sends you consolations. I think this is a very great favor for God to show you.

We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.

Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.

The most potent and acceptable prayer is the prayer that leaves the best effects. I don't mean it must immediately fill the soul with desire . . . The best effects are those that are followed up by actions-when the soul not only desires the honor of God, but really strives for it.

The life of the spirit is not our life, but the life of God within us.

God, deliver me from sullen saints.

Whoever has not begun the practice of prayer, I beg for the love of the Lord not to go without so great a good. There is nothing here to fear but only something to desire.

Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour.

The important thing is not to think much but to love much; do, then, whatever most arouses you to love.

Anyone who truly loves God travels securely.

Discontent with this world gives such a painful longing to quit it that, if the heart finds comfort, it is solely from the thought that God wishes it to remain here in banishment.

Consider seriously how quickly people change, and how little trust is to be had in them; and hold fast to God, Who does not change.

Do you think it is only a little thing to possess a house from which lovely things can be seen?

God deliver me from people who are so spiritual that they want to turn everything into perfect contemplation, come what may.

It is a dangerous thing to be satisfied with ourselves.