Quotes from Teresa of Avila

From heaven even the most miserable life will look like one bad night at an inconvenient hotel.

However much we do to avoid them, we shall never lack crosses in this life if we are in the ranks of the Crucified.

Let nothing Disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, Though all things pass, God does not change. Patience wins all things. But he lacks nothing who possesses God; For God alone suffices.

Let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it, be his life ever so wicked; for prayer is the way to amend it, and without prayer such amendment will be much more difficult.

Contemplative prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.

Don't imagine that, if you had a great deal of time, you would spend more of it in prayer. Get rid of that idea; it is no hindrance to prayer to spend your time well.

Hope, O my soul, hope. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience turns a very short time into a long one.

[Last words:] My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time to meet one another.

It is not a matter of thinking a great deal but of loving a great deal, so do whatever arouses you most to love.

If we practice love of neighbor with great perfection, we will have done everything.

Anyone who truly loves God travels securely.

Oh, my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value.

Happy the heart where love has come to birth.

If we learn to love the earth, we will find labyrinths, gardens, fountains and precious jewels! A whole new world will open itself to us. We will discover what it means to be truly alive.

Love makes labour light. Love alone gives value to all things.

Love draws forth love.

Oh, how everything that is suffered with love is healed again!

His Majesty [the Lord] . . . rewards great services with trials, and there can be no better reward, for out of trials springs love for God.

True perfection consists in the love of God and our neighbour, and the better we keep both these commandments, the more perfect we shall be.

Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.

Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help, some of our Divine help will fail us.

Consider seriously how quickly people change, and how little trust is to be had in them; and hold fast to God, Who does not change.

Truth suffers, but never dies.