John of the Cross Quotes

In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human success, but rather on how much we have loved.

Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent.

Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.

In the inner stillness where meditation leads, the Spirit secretly anoints the soul and heals our deepest wounds.

To love is to be transformed into what we love. To love God is therefore to be transformed into God.

Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive by any earthly thing.

However softly we speak, God is so close to us that he can hear us; nor do we need wings to go in search of him, but merely to seek solitude and contemplate him within ourselves, without being surprised to find such a good Guest there.

Silence is God's first language.

Where there is no love, pour love in, and you will draw love out.

Live in faith and hope, though it be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul. Cast your care upon God for you are His and He will not forget you. Do not think that He is leaving you alone, for that would be to wrong Him.

To reach satisfaction in all desire its possession in nothing, To come to the knowledge of all desire the knowledge of nothing. To come to possess all desire the possession of nothing. To arrive at being all desire to be nothing.

Whoever does not seek the cross of Christ doesn't seek the glory of Christ.

In sorrow and suffering, go straight to God with confidence, and you will be strengthened, enlightened and instructed.

Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved. The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of Divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly.

God leads every soul by a separate path.

Have a great love for those who contradict and fail to love you, for in this way love is begotten in a heart that has no love.

When a soul has advanced so far on the spiritual road as to be lost to all the natural methods of communing with God; when it seeks Him no longer by meditation, images, impressions, nor by any other created ways, or representations of sense, but only by rising above them all, in the joyful communion with Him by faith and love, then it may be said to have found God of a truth, because it has truly lost itself as to all that is not God, and also as to its own self.

Now that I no longer desire all, I have it all without desire.

The centre of the soul is God; and, when the soul has attained to Him according to the whole capacity of its being, which is the strength and virtue of the soul, it will have reached the last and the deep centre of the soul, which will be when with all its powers it loves and understands and enjoys God.

He who avoids prayer is avoiding everything that is good.

A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things.

Contemplation is nothing else but a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which, if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love.

Seek in reading and you will find in meditation; knock in prayer and it will be opened to you in contemplation.

God passes through the thicket of the world, and wherever His glance falls He turns all things to beauty.

The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.

In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God.

The soul that walks in love neither tires others nor grows tired.

It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.

The soul of one who serves God always swims in joy, always keeps holiday, is always in her palace of jubilation, ever singing with fresh ardor and fresh pleasure a new song of joy and love.

Do not let your "eye" be drawn by the false "beacon lamps" -of wealth, or position, or fame, or possessions. Be vigilant over your will and desires, for these are the corrupt forces that dwell within, and keep you from living free.

Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you.

Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him.

They say, "God told me", or "God replied to me". And yet most of the time they are talking to themselves.

Yearning: It needs to hurt in order to be worthy of the word. Otherwise it is just wanting.

At the end of our life, we shall all be judged by charity.

Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross.

Never listen to accounts of the frailty of others; and if anyone should complain to you of another, humbly ask him not to speak about him at all.

Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.

There is nothing better or morenecessary than love.

See that you are not suddenly saddened by the adversities of this world, for you do not know the good they bring, being ordained in the judgments of God for the everlasting joy of the elect.

Faith is a dark night for man, but in this very way it gives him light.

If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection.

However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will - unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself - not one step will you advance on the road to perfection.

He who loves is not ashamed before men of what he does for God, neither does he hide it through shame though the whole world should condemn it.

God desires the smallest degree of purity of conscience in you more than all the works you can perform.

At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love.

Live as though only God and yourself were in this world, so that your heart may not be detained by anything human.

The soul that journey's to God, but doesn't shake off it's cares and quiet it's appetities, is like someone who drags a cart of dirt uphill.

He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand; he can hardly catch it again.

If it were given to a man to see virtue's reward in the next world, he would occupy his intellect, memory and will in nothing but good works, careless of danger or fatigue.