Therese of Lisieux Quotes

By our little acts of charity practiced in the shade we convert souls far away, we help missionaries, we win for them abundant alms; and by that means build actual dwellings spiritual and material for our Eucharistic Lord.

At last there dawned the most beautiful day of all the days of my life. How perfectly I remember even the smallest details of those sacred hours! The joyful awakening, the reverent and tender embraces of my mistresses and older companions, the room filled with white frocks, like so many snowflakes, where each child was dressed in turn.

(On entering Carmel) I came to save souls and especially to pray for priests.

Time is but a shadow, a dream; already God sees us in glory and takes joy in our eternal beatitude. How this thought helps my soul! I understand then why He lets us suffer.

I realized that to become a saint one must suffer a great deal, always seek what is best, and forget oneself.

My soul experienced a peace so sweet, so deep, it would be impossible to express it.

Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing.

The good God would not inspire unattainable desires.

Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs - everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness. Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events - to the heart that loves, all is well.

When we are expecting only suffering, the least joy surprises us: Suffering itself becomes the greatest of joys when we seek it as a precious treasure.

Life is only a dream: soon, we shall awaken. And what joy! The greater our sufferings, the more limitless our glory. Oh! do not let us waste the trial Jesus sends.

A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.

It's true, I suffer a great deal-but do I suffer well? That is the question.

Look at Him while He is looking at you.

We must do everything we are obliged to do; give without reckoning, practice virtue whenever opportunity offers, constantly overcome ourselves, prove our love by all the little acts of tenderness and consideration we can muster. In a word, we must produce all the good works that lie within our strength - out of love for God.

Prayer and sacrifice can touch souls better than words.

The country in which I live is not my native country, that lies elsewhere, and it must always be the center of my longings.

Love is nourished only by sacrifices, and the more a soul refuses natural satisfactions, the stronger and more disinterested becomes her tenderness.

If all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wildflowers.

When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens,I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.

I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace [...] Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendor of the rose and whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realized that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay.

I am simply content to find myself always imperfect, and in this I find my joy. Good deeds count as nothing, if done without love.

God would turn the world around to find suffering in order to give it to a soul upon whom He has set His Divine gaze with ineffable love.

It isn't enough to love; we must prove it.

For me, prayer means launching out of the heart towards God; it means lifting up one's eyes, quite simply, to heaven, a cry of grateful love, from the crest of joy or the trough of despair; it's a vast, supernatural force which opens out my heart, and binds me close to Jesus.

In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.

My vocation, at last I have found it; my vocation is love.

If you are willing to bear serenely the trial of being displeasing to yourself, then you will be for Jesus a pleasant place of shelter.

I know now that true charity consists in bearing all our neighbors'defects--not being surprised at their weakness, but edified at their smallest virtues.

He is not far off; He is there, very close. He is looking at us, and He is begging this sorrow, this agony from us. He needs it for souls and for our soul... Alas, it does pain Him to give us sorrows to drink, but He knows this is the only means of preparing us to know Him as He knows Himself and to become God's ourselves.

A heart given to God loses none of its natural tenderness; on the contrary, the more pure and divine it becomes, the more such tenderness increases.

I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused.

The loveliest materpiece of the heart of God is the love of a Mother.

nobody is a good judge in his own cause!

Even now I know it: yes, all my hopes will be fulfilled... yes... the Lord will work wonders for me which will surpass infinitely my immeasurable desires.

I say nothing to him I love him

When we yield to discouragement it is usually because we give too much thought to the past and to the future.

Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you- for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart... don't listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love.

Why should we defend ourselves when we are misunderstood and misjudged? Let us leave that aside. Let us not say anything. It is so sweet to let others judge us in any way they like. O blessed silence, which gives so much peace to the soul!

the storm thunders at my heart; I find it difficult to believe in the existence of anything except the clouds which limit my horizon.

If a little flower could speak, it seems to me that it would tell us quite simply all that God has done for it, without hiding any of its gifts. It would not, under the pretext of humility, say that it was not pretty, or that it had not a sweet scent, that the sun had withered its petals,or the storm bruised its stem, if it knew that such were not the case.

Love is a universe of its own, comprising all time and space.

Prayer for me is an updward leap of the heart

For me to love you, Jesus, as you love me, I would have to borrow your own love and then only would I be at rest.

Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.

Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.

Discouragement itself is a form of pride.

I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.