John Climacus Quotes

42 quotes in 782 categories

• A proud monk needs no demon. He has turned into one, an enemy to himself.
• It happens, I do not know how, that most of the proud never really discover their true selves. They think they have conquered their passions…
• An angel fell from Heaven without any other passion except pride, and so we may ask whether it is possible to ascend to Heaven by…
• A characteristic of those who are still progressing in blessed mourning is temperance and silence of the lips; and of those who have made progress…
• The lover of silence draws close to God. He talks to Him in secret and God enlightens him.
• A servant of the Lord stands bodily before men, but mentally he is knocking at the gates of heaven with prayer.
• When a man has found the Lord, he no longer has to use words when he is praying, for the Spirit Himself will intercede for…
• Repentance lifts a man up. Mourning knocks at heaven's gate. Holy humility opens it.
• The first stage of this tranquility consists in silencing the lips when the heart is excited. The second, in silencing the mind when the soul…
• The friend of silence comes close to God. In secret he converses with him and receives his light.
• As fire does not give birth to snow, so those who seek honor here will not enjoy it in heaven... As those who climb a…
• Do not regard the feelings of a person who speaks to you about his neighbor disparagingly, but rather say to him: "Stop, brother! I fall…
• The friend of silence comes close to God.
• It can happen that when we are at prayer some brothers come to see us. Then we have to choose either to interrupt our prayer…
• Fight to escape from your own cleverness. If you do, then you will find salvation and uprightness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• The man who pets a lion may tame it, but the man who coddles the body makes it ravenous.
• Humility is the only thing that no devil can imitate.
• Someone who is elated with wine speaks the truth on all subjects, even without meaning to. In the same way, anyone who is inebriated with…
• I know a man who, when he saw a woman of striking beauty, praised the Creator for her. The sight of her lit within him…
• Just as the winds whip up the sea, so does anger stir confusion in the mind.

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