Teresa of Avila. Quotes

Let us remember that within us there is a palace of immense magnificence.

Don't be curious of matters that don't concern you never speak of them and don't ask about them.

To wish to act like angels while we are still in this world is nothing but folly.

Granting that 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 for they as it were see that He is looking upon them while others may go for days on end without even once recollecting that God sees them.

Teresa of Avila.

More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.

Teresa of Avila.

Let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it be his life ever so wicked for prayer is the way to amend it and without prayer such amendment will be much more difficult.

Teresa of Avila.

From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints good Lord deliver us.

Teresa of Avila.

God prefers your health and your obedience to your penance.

Teresa of Avila.

Learn to self-conquest persevere thus for a time and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it.

Teresa of Avila.

Patient endurance attends to all things.

Teresa of Avila.

To wish to act like angels while we are still in this world is nothing but folly.

Teresa of Avila.

More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.

Teresa of Avila.

Let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it be his life ever so wicked for prayer is the way to amend it and without prayer such amendment will be much more difficult.

Teresa of Avila.

From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints good Lord deliver us.

Teresa of Avila.

God prefers your health and your obedience to your penance.

Teresa of Avila.

Learn to self-conquest persevere thus for a time and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it.

Teresa of Avila.

Patient endurance attends to all things.

Teresa of Avila.

To argue over who is the more noble is nothing more than to dispute whether dirt is better for making bricks or for making mortar.

Teresa of Avila.

How is it Lord that we are cowards in everything save in opposing Thee?

Teresa of Avila.

Holy church-that mother who is also a queen because she is a king's bride.

Teresa of Avila.

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.

Teresa of Avila.

The best thing must be to flee from all to the All.

Teresa of Avila.

We know only that we are living in these bodies and have a vague idea because we have heard it and because our faith tells us so that we possess souls. As to what good qualities there may be in our souls or who dwells within them or how precious they are those are things which we seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul's beauty.

Teresa of Avila.

However much we do to avoid them we shall never lack crosses in this life if we are in the ranks of the Crucified.

Teresa of Avila.

It is only mercenaries who expect to be paid by the day.

Teresa of Avila.

With all this wide and beautiful creation before me the restless soul longs to enjoy its liberty and rest beyond its bound.

Teresa of Avila.

Let nothing disturb you nothing frighten you all things are passing God never changes.

Teresa of Avila.

To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.

Teresa of Avila.

Pain is never permanent.

Teresa of Avila.

Let nothing disturb thee Let nothing affright thee All things are passing God changeth never.

Teresa of Avila.

To have courage for whatever comes in life-everything lies in that.

Teresa of Avila.

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

Teresa of Avila.

The saints rejoiced at injuries and persecutions because in forgiving them they had something to present to God when they prayed to Him.

Teresa of Avila.

It constantly happens that the Lord permits a soul to fall so that it may grow humbler.

Teresa of Avila.

. . . it is presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for me, so that in all things His will may be done.

Teresa of Avila.

For if the will has nothing to employ it and love has no present object with which to busy itself, the soul finds itself without either support or occupation, its solitude and aridity cause it great distress and its thoughts involve it in the severest conflict.

Teresa of Avila.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours,Yours are the eyes through which to look out Christ's compassion to the worldYours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.

Teresa of Avila.

Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience gains all; nothing is lacking to those who have God: God alone is sufficient.

Teresa of Avila.

Give me, if you will, prayers;Or let me know dryness,An abudance of devotion,Or if not, then barrenness.In you alone, Sovereign Majesty,I find my peace,What do you want of me?Yours I am, fo ryou I was born:What do you want of me?

Teresa of Avila.

You must know that weather or not you are practicing mental prayer has nothing to do with keeping your lips closed. If, while I am speaking with God, I am fully conscious of doing so, and if this is more real to me than the words I am uttering, then I am combining mental and vocal prayer. I am amazed when people tell me that you are speaking with God by reciting the Paternoster even while you are thinking of worldly things. When you speak with a Lord so great, you should think of Who it is you are addressing and what you yourself are, if only that you may speak to Him with proper respect. How can you address a king with the reverence he deserves unless you are clearly conscious of his position and yours?

Teresa of Avila.

I cannot think why we should be astonished at all the evils which exist in the Church, when those who ought to be models on which all may pattern their virtues are annulling the work wrought in the religious Orders by the spirit of the saints of old.

Teresa of Avila.

But always when I was without a book, my soul would at once become disturbed, and my thoughts wandered. As I read, I began to call them together again and, as it were, laid a bait for my soul

Teresa of Avila.

...it takes great humility to find oneself unjustly condemned and be silent, and to do this is to imitate the Lord Who set us free from all our sins. ... The truly humble person will have a genuine desire to be thought little of, and persecuted, and condemned unjustly, even in serious matters. ... It is a great help to meditate upon the great gain which in any case this is bound to bring us, and to realize how, properly speaking, we can never be blamed unjustly, since we are always full of faults, and a just man falls seven times a day, so that it would be a falsehood for us to say we have no sin. If, then, we are not to blame for the thing that we are accused of, we are never wholly without blame in the way that our good Jesus was. ... Thou knowest, my Good, that if there is anything good in me it comes from no other hands than Thine own. For what is it to Thee, Lord, to give much instead of little? True, I do not deserve it, but neither have I deserved the favors which Thou hast shown me already. Can it be that I should wish a thing so evil as myself to be thought well of by anyone, when they have said such wicked things of Thee, Who art good above all other good? ... Do Thou give me light and make me truly to desire that all should hate me, since I have so often let Thee, Who hast loved me with such faithfulness. ... What does it matter to us if we are blamed by them all, provided we are without blame in the sight of the Lord? ...meditate upon what is real and upon what is not. ... Do you suppose, ... that, if you do not make excuses for yourself, there will not be someone else who will defend you? Remember how the Lord took the Magdalen's part in the Pharisee's house and also when her sister blamed her. He will not treat you as rigorously as He treated Himself: it was not until He was on the Cross that He had even a thief to defend Him. His Majesty, then, will put it into somebody's mind to defend you; if He does not, it will be because there is no need. ...be glad when you are blamed, and in due time you will see what profit you experience in your souls. For it is in this way that you will begin to gain freedom; soon you will not care if they speak ill or well of you; it will seem like someone else's business. ... So here: it becomes such a habit with us not to reply that it seems as if they are not addressing us at all. This may seem impossible to those of us who are very sensitive and not capable of great mortification. It is indeed difficult at first, but I know that, with the Lord's help, the gradual attainment of this freedom, and of renunciation and self-detachment, is quite possible.

Teresa of Avila.

Mental prayer is, as I see it, simply a friendly intercourse and frequent solitary conversation with Him who, as we know, loves us.

Teresa of Avila.

Prayer and comfortable living are incompatible.

Teresa of Avila.

. . . you must not build upon foundations of prayer and contemplation alone, for, unless you strive after the virtues and practice them, you will never grow to be more than dwarfs.

Teresa of Avila.

Reflect carefully on this, for it is so important that I can hardly lay too much stress on it. Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you.

Teresa of Avila.

O infinite goodness of my God! It is thus that I seem to see both myself and Thee. O Joy of the angels, how I long, when I think of this, to be wholly consumed in love for Thee! How true it is that Thou dost bear with those who cannot bear Thee to be with them! Oh, how good a Friend art Thou, my Lord! How Thou dost comfort us and suffer us and wait until our nature becomes more like Thine and meanwhile dost bear with it as it is! Thou dost remember the times when we love Thee, my Lord, and, when for a moment we repent, Thou dost forget how we offended Thee. I have seen this clearly in my own life, and I cannot conceive, my Creator, why the whole world does not strive to draw near to Thee in this intimate friendship. Those of us who are wicked, and whose nature is not like Thine, ought to draw near to Thee so that Thou mayest make them good. They should allow Thee to be with them for at least two hours each day, even though they may not be with Thee, but are perplexed, as I was, with a thousand worldly cares and thoughts. In exchange for the effort which it costs them to desire to be in such good company (for Thou knowest, Lord, that at first this is as much as they can do and sometimes they can do no more at all) Thou dost prevent the devils from assaulting them so that each day they are able to do them less harm, and Thou givest them strength to conquer. Yea, Life of all lives, Thou slayest none of those that put their trust in Thee and desire Thee for their Friend; rather dost Thou sustain their bodily life with greater health and give strength to their souls.

Teresa of Avila.

I used unexpectedly to experience a consciousness of the presence of God, or such a kind that I could not possibly doubt that He was within me or that I was wholly engulfed in Him. This was in no sense a vision: I believe it is called mystical theology. The soul is suspended in such a way that it seems to be completely outside itself. The will loves; the memory, I think, is almost lost; while the understanding, I believe, thought it is not lost, does not reason—I mean that it does not work, but is amazed at the extent of all it can understand; for God wills it to realize that it understands nothing of what His Majesty represents to it.

Teresa of Avila.

All the trials we endure cannot be compared to these interior battles.

Teresa of Avila.

It is of great importance, when we begin to practise prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our own thoughts.

Teresa of Avila.

Love turns work into rest.

Teresa of Avila.

...Since in the centre of the soul there is a mansion reserved for God Himself...

Teresa of Avila.

The devil frequently fills our thoughts with great schemes, so that instead of putting our hands to what work we can do to serve our Lord, we may rest satisfied with wishing to perform impossibilities.

Teresa of Avila.

If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so many enemies.

Teresa of Avila.

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

Teresa of Avila.

Authentic prayer changes us, unmasks us, strips us, indicates where growth is needed.

Teresa of Avila.

...aconsejaría yo a los que tienen oración, en especial al principio, procuren amistad y trato con otras personas que traten de lo mismo. Es cosa importantísima, aunque no sea sino ayudarse unos a otros con sus oraciones, ¡cuánto más que hay muchas más ganancias! Y no sé yo por qué no se ha de permitir que quien comenzare de veras a amar a Dios y a servirle, deje de tratar con algunas personas sus placeres y trabajos, que de todo tienen los que tienen oración.

Teresa of Avila.

God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres.

Teresa of Avila.