Quotes from Teresa of Avila

For, under the Lord, I owe it to such persons that I am not in hell; I was always very fond of asking them to commend me to God, and so I prevailed upon them to do so.

Remember, my sisters, that if we are not good we are much more to blame than others.

la verdadera humildad está mucho en estar muy prontos en contentarse con lo que el Señor quisiere hacer de ellos, y siempre hallarse indignos de llamarse sus siervos.

Oh gran ganancia, no querer ganar por nuestro parecer para no temer pérdida, pues nunca permite Dios la tenga el bien mortificado, sino para ganar más!

Their heart does not allow them to practise duplicity: if they see their friend straying from the road, or committing any faults, they will speak to her about it; they cannot allow themselves to do anything else.

there are people whose nature it is to be very much cast down by small things.

for the devil never slumbers. And the nearer we are to perfection, the more careful we must be, since his temptations are then much more cunning because there are no others that he dare send us;

When I fear I have done wrong, when I look to those who are less wise, when I forget transcendence, and kneel in the meanings of colour and shadow, when I tell lies to my soul, I seek out water, I follow it's charm - a river, a steam, a lake with its springs and currents. See how it offers life as it flawlessly flows and forms to the shape of this world, the contours of the land, the urge of earth, hear how it sings under the sun, of endless evaporation.

Well, I cannot find, and have never found, any way of comforting such people, except to express great sorrow at their trouble, which, when I see them so miserable, I really do feel. It is useless to argue with them, for they brood over their woes and make up their minds that they are suffering for God's sake, and thus never really understand that it is all due to their own imperfection. And

there is no reason why we should expect everyone else to travel by our own road, and

the Lord asks only two things of us: love for His Majesty and love for our neighbour.

All the trials that we have suffered will, I believe, have been endured to good purpose. The rule is rather strict, for meat is never eaten except in cases of necessity

it has acquired prudence and discretion and orders its life well. Its limitations are those of vision: it has not yet experienced to the full the inspiring force of love. It has not made a full self-oblation, a total self-surrender. Its love is still governed by reason, and so its progress is slow.

which we receive from God; and shows how the door of this castle is prayer.

will tell you, for I am not sure if you properly understand as yet how much we owe to the Lord for bringing us to a place where we are so free from business matters, occasions of sin and the society of worldly people.

It is certain, my Lord, that in these days withdrawal from the world means no sacrifice at all.

What will He not give Who so much loves giving and can give all that He will?

He always gives us much more than we deserve by granting us a spiritual sweetness much greater than we can obtain from the pleasures and distractions of this life.

Dime gran fatiga, y como si yo pudiera algo o fuera algo, lloraba con el Señor y le suplicaba remediase tanto mal.

Let humility be always at work, like the bee at the honeycomb, or all will be lost.

His secrets are hidden deep; but all that he does will be best for us, without the slightest doubt.

Tengo para mí que honras y dineros casi siempre andan juntos, y que quien quiere honra no aborrece dineros, y que quien los aborrece que se le da poco de honra.

It is certain that a man who has no need of anyone has many friends: in my own experience I have found this to be very true.

cómo podrá el verdadero humilde pensar que es él tan bueno como los que llegan a ser contemplativos?