John Of The Cross Quotes

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.

Upon a darkened night the flame of love was burning in my breastAnd by a lantern bright I fled my house while all in quiet rest.Shrouded by the night and by the secret stair I quickly fled.The veil concealed my eyes while all within lay quiet as the dead

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.

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

All the powers of soul and body,memory, understanding, and will, interior and exterior senses, thedesires of spirit and of sense, all workin and by love ...

God is a dark night to man in this life.

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.

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

He who avoids prayer is avoiding everything that is good.

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.

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

Obedience is a penance of reason, and, on that account, a sacrifice more acceptable than all corporal penances and mortifications.

When there is no love, pour in love and you shall draw out love.

My sole occupation is love.

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.

Seek in reading and thou shalt find in meditation; knock in prayer and it shall be opened in contemplation.

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.

Faith is the union of God and the soul.

Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the Beloved!

The purest suffering bears and carries in its train the purest understanding.

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.

The window of the soul cleansed perfectly and made completely transparent by the divine light

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

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.

In search of my Love
I will go over mountains and strands;
I will gather no flowers,
I will fear no wild beasts;
And pass by the mighty and the frontiers.

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

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.

For true devotion must issue from the heart, and consist in the truth and substances alone of what is represented by spiritual things; all the rest is affection and attachment proceeding from imperfection; and in order that one may pass to any kind of perfection it is necessary for such desires to be killed.

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.

Who teaches the soul if not God?

He who loses an opportunity is like the man who lets a bird fly from his hand, for he will never recover it.

Seek by reading and you will find by meditating. Knock by praying, and it will be opened to you in contemplation.

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

In tribulation immediately draw near to God with confidence, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.

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.

Though the path is plain and smooth for men of good will, he who walks it will not travel far, and will do so only with difficulty, if he does not have good feet: that is, courage and a persevering spirit.

If you lose an opportunity you will be like one who lets the bird fly away; you will never get it back.

Lord, I shall see you no more with the eyes of the flesh ...

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

Desolation is a file, and the endurance of darkness is preparation for great light.

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

Strive always to confess your sins with a deep knowledge of your own wretchedness and with clarity and purity.

I have said this to explain the stanza that follows, in which the soul replies to those who call in question its holy tranquillity, who will have it wholly occupied with outward duties, that its light may shine before the world: these persons have no conception of the fibres and the unseen root whence the sap is drawn, and which nourish the fruit.

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

The eternal spring is hidden in this living bread for our life's sake, although it is night. It is here calling out to creatures; and they satisfy their thirst, although in darkness, because it is night. This living spring that I long for, I see in this bread of life, although it is night.