Orthodox Christian Quotes

• Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.

  Saint John Chrysostom

  Christianity, Virtue, Mercy

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• God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. Hence, if we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil - for the devil is cold - let us call on the Lord. He will come to warm our hearts with perfect love, not only for Him but also for our neighbor, and the cold of him who hates the good will flee before the heat of His countenance.

  Seraphim of Sarov

  Christian, Hate, Heart

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• Just as the thought of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not actualize the light of spiritual knowledge in the soul.

  Maximus the Confessor

  Christian, Spiritual, Fire

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• Well, I affirm orthodox Christian faith. I affirm the Nicene Creed. I don't think I'm doing anything terribly new.

  Rob Bell

  Christian, Thinking, Creeds

  54 Copy quote

• Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody thinks about changing himself.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Christian, Thinking, World

  290 Copy quote

• Those who do not know must be taught, not punished. We do not hit the blind. We lead them by the hand.

  Pope Dionysius

  Christian, Hands, Taught

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• Every evil screams only one message: 'I am good.'

  Alexander Schmemann

  Christian, Duplicity, Evil

  64 Copy quote

• The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.

  Saint John Chrysostom

  Mother, Desire, Liberty

  Saint John Chrysostom, William John Copeland (1840). “Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians: And Homilies on the Epistle to the Ephesians, of S. John Chrysostom ...”, p.81

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• You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of one who gives and kindles joy in the heart of one who receives.

  Seraphim of Sarov

  Kindness, Heart, Giving

  "The Ladder of the Beatitudes". Book by Jim Forest, www.huffingtonpost.com. 1999.

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• But I say to you, the Lord says, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you. Why did he command these things? So that he might free you from hatred, sadness, anger and grudges, and might grant you the greatest possession of all, perfect love, which is impossible to possess except by the one who loves all equally in imitation of God.

  Maximus the Confessor

  Christian, Hate, Love You

  88 Copy quote

• If God suffers in the flesh when He is made man, should we not rejoice when we suffer, for we have God to share our sufferings? This shared suffering confers the kingdom on us. For he spoke truly who said, 'If we suffer with Him, then we shall also be glorified with Him' (Rom. 8:17).

  Maximus the Confessor

  Christian, Men, Suffering

  57 Copy quote

• A man does not possess all the gifts, lest he think that grace is nature.

  Saint John Chrysostom

  Christian, Men, Thinking

  9 Copy quote

• O God, do not leave me. I have done nothing good in Your sight, but according to Your goodness, let me now make a beginning of good.

  Arsenius the Great

  Christian, Sight, Done

  13 Copy quote

• I have often repented of having spoken, but never of having been silent.

  Arsenius the Great

  Christian, Silent, Orthodox

  24 Copy quote

• Those who have truly decided to serve the Lord God should practice the remembrance of God and uninterrupted prayer to Jesus Christ, mentally saying: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

  Seraphim of Sarov

  Jesus, Prayer, Son

  72 Copy quote

• Just as a strongly flowing fountain is not blocked up by a handful of earth, so the compassion of the Creator is not overcome by the wickedness of his creatures.

  Isaac of Nineveh

  Christian, Compassion, Overcoming

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• As a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, so are the sins of all flesh as compared with the mind of God.

  Isaac of Nineveh

  Christian, Ocean, Mind

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• Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.

  Anthony the Great

  Christian, Brother, Gains

  63 Copy quote

• Peace is truly the complete and undisturbed possession of what is desired.

  Maximus the Confessor

  Christian, Possession, Orthodox

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• ...a disposition is an unsatisfactory thing unless we give it practical effect - deeds show dispositions.

  Gregory of Nazianzus

  Christian, Giving, Deeds

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• Our wickedness shall not overpower the unspeakable goodness and mercy of God; our dullness shall not overpower God's wisdom, nor our infirmity God's omnipotence.

  John of Kronstadt

  Forgiveness, Christian, Mercy Of God

  71 Copy quote

• Our Lord Christ Himself strikes down our enemies through us, or in company with us. For he who eats Christ's flesh and drinks His blood abides with Christ and He in him. Therefore, when we overcome the enemies, it is the blood of Christ which overcomes, as it is written in Revelation: 'and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb'

  Lorenzo Scupoli

  Christian, Blood, Enemy

  Lorenzo Scupoli (1978). “Unseen Warfare: The Spiritual Combat and Path to Paradise of Lorenzo Scupoli”, p.225, St Vladimir's Seminary Press

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• All of us who are human beings are in the image of God. But to be in his likeness belongs only to those who by great love have attached their freedom to God.

  Diadochos of Photiki

  Christian, Great Love, Orthodox

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• The rule of life for a perfect person is to be in the image and likeness of God.

  Clement of Alexandria

  Christian, Perfect, Rules Of Life

  57 Copy quote

• The grace of God comes swiftly to the soul when endurance is no longer possible.

  Dorotheus of Gaza

  Christian, Grace, Soul

  Saint Dorotheus (of Gaza) (1977). “Discourses and Sayings”

  8 Copy quote

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