Quotes from the Middle Ages

Christian quotes from the Middle Ages — with author, dates and source, from two millennia of Christian thought.

O Lord, make me an instrument of your peace! Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy.
Francis of Assisi

Midway upon the journey of our life, // I found myself within a dark forest, // for the straight path had been lost.
Dante Alighieri

No greater sorrow than to recall a time of happiness in misery.
Dante Alighieri

O Lord, in your arms I am safe. When you hold me, I have nothing to fear. I know nothing of the future, but I trust in you.
Francis of Assisi

God is joy. That is why he placed the sun before his house.
Francis of Assisi

Whoever is carried by God's grace travels with light luggage.
Thomas à Kempis

There must be no one in the whole world, however much he may have sinned, who has to leave you without finding mercy with you, if he sought mercy.
Francis of Assisi

The person who does not have God while mucking out the stable does not have him during choir prayer either.
Meister Eckhart

God often gives in a single moment what he has withheld for a long time. For the Lord bestows blessing where he finds empty vessels.
Thomas à Kempis

Jesus, what made you so small? Love!
Bernard of Clairvaux

You need not cross the seas, need not pierce the clouds, need not scale the Alps. The way shown to you is not far. You need only go to meet your God as far as yourself. For the word is near you: it is in your mouth and in your heart.
Bernard of Clairvaux

Be like a fountain basin that first gathers the water within itself and then, overflowing, passes it on.
Bernard of Clairvaux

The most important hour is always the present. The most important person is always the one standing right before you. The most important deed is always love.
Meister Eckhart

Indeed, who can be good to others if he is bad to himself? Remember then: grant yourself to yourself. I do not say: do this always. I do not say: do this often. But I say: do it from time to time. Be there for yourself, as you are for everyone else.
Bernard of Clairvaux

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Francis of Assisi

The greatest honor we can give almighty God is to live gladly, knowing his love.
Julian of Norwich

Love knows no why.
Meister Eckhart

God is always in us; only we are seldom at home.
Meister Eckhart

The measure of love for God is love without measure.
Bernard of Clairvaux

When comfort is withdrawn, do not be cast down, but humbly and patiently await the visitation of God. He is able and powerful to give you more grace and more spiritual comfort than you first had.
Thomas à Kempis

What seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body.
Francis of Assisi

Blessed is the brother who loves the sick brother as much as the healthy one.
Francis of Assisi

Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
Francis of Assisi

Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor confusion.
Francis of Assisi

Where there is rest and contemplation, there is neither worry nor dissipation.
Francis of Assisi

Man is only what he is before God, and nothing more.
Francis of Assisi

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures.
Francis of Assisi

Brother Sun gives the day and bears a likeness of the Most High.
Francis of Assisi

Blessed are those who forgive out of love and bear sickness and tribulation in peace.
Francis of Assisi

Every creature is connected with another, and every being is held by another.
Hildegard of Bingen

Every creature has a primal urge for a loving embrace.
Hildegard of Bingen

To love is to will the good of another.
Thomas Aquinas

The greatest gift a person can have under heaven is to be able to live well with those he is with.
Giles of Assisi

God never ceases to be the Father of his children.
Anthony of Padua

One ray of sunshine is enough to light up much darkness.
Francis of Assisi

Without inner love, all outward doing is worthless. But what is done out of love is great, it bears rich fruit, however small and unnoticed it may seem in human eyes. For on God's scale, what drives you to act weighs far more than the deed itself.
Thomas à Kempis

God's love is like a ship that sailed through the world for millennia, until it dropped anchor at the manger of Bethlehem.
Johannes Tauler

Learn to have patience with others' faults; for behold, you too have much that others must bear.
Thomas à Kempis

Happy is the one who bears his neighbor in all his frailty, as he wishes to be borne by him in his own weakness.
Francis of Assisi

Love your fate, for it is God's path through your soul.
Thomas Aquinas

People quoted here

Francis of Assisi, Dante Alighieri, Thomas à Kempis, Meister Eckhart, Bernard of Clairvaux, Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Giles of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Johannes Tauler

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Quotes from the Middle Ages

People quoted here

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