Saint Basil Quotes

86 quotes in 1568 categories

• Just as a very little fresh water is blown away by a storm of wind and dust, in like manner the good deeds, that we…
• I heard many discourses which were good for the soul, but I could not discover in the case of any one of the teachers that…
• [Every disappointment or misfortune can become a blessing in disguise, for which we should be grateful. But only if the hidden blessing is anticipated, expected…
• When you have become God's in the measure he desires, then he himself will bestow you upon others; unless, to your greater glory, he chooses…
• When someone steals a person's clothes, we call him a thief. Should we not also give the same name to the one who could clothe…
• Let sleep itself be an exercise in piety, for such as our life and conduct have been, so also of necessity will be our dreams.
• O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, even our brothers, the animals, to whom Thou gavest the earth as…
• You have heaven adorned, earth beautified, the sea populated with its own creatures, the air filled with birds which scour it in every direction. Studious…
• Who is the covetous man? One for whom plenty is not enough.
• She who has intentionally destroyed [the fetus] is subject to the penalty corresponding to a homicide. For us, there is no scrutinizing between the formed…
• Extirpate two thoughts within thyself: do not consider thyself worthy of anything great, and do not think that any other man is much lower than…
• The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden…
• The bread which you use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked;…
• The hairsplitting difference between formed and unformed makes no difference to us. Whoever deliberately commits abortion is subject to the penalty for homicide.
• We should even go beyond doing what is required in order to avoid scandal.
• If, therefore, there is any grace in the water, it is not from the nature of water but from the Spirit's presence there.
• A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is answerable for murder. And any fine distinction as to its being completely formed or unformed is not…
• When a sunbeam falls on a transparent substance, the substance itself becomes brilliant, and radiates light from itself. So too Spirit bearing souls, illumined by…
• What is the mark of a Christian? That he be purified of all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit in the Blood of…
• Persecution has come upon us, right honorable brethren, and persecution in the severest form. Shepherds are persecuted that their flocks may be scattered. And the…

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