Quotes from Teresa of Avila

So dearly does His Majesty love us that He will reward our love for our neighbor by increasing the love which we bear to Himself, and that in a thousand ways.

It is not so essential to think much as to love much.

Do you think it is only a little thing to possess a house from which lovely things can be seen?

I am quite sure that if we could but once approach the Most Holy Sacrament with great faith and love, it would suffice to make us rich. How much more so if we approach it often!

In order to profit from this path [of prayer] and ascend to the dwelling places we desire, the important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so, do that which best stirs you to love.

Alas, O Lord, to what a state dost Thou bring those who love Thee!

Never affirm anything unless you are sure it is true.

It is a most certain truth, that the richer we see ourselves to be, confessing at the same time our poverty, the greater will be our progress, and the more real our humility.

God deliver me from people who are so spiritual that they want to turn everything into perfect contemplation, come what may.

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Love turns work into rest.

You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.

The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.

it is presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for me, so that in all things His will may be done.

It constantly happens that the Lord permits a soul to fall so that it may grow humbler.

Let nothing disturb thee, Let nothing affright thee, All things are passing, God changeth never.

To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.

We know only that we are living in these bodies and have a vague idea, because we have heard it, and because our faith tells us so, that we possess souls. As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or who dwells within them, or how precious they are, those are things which we seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul's beauty.

As to the aridity you are suffering from, it seems to me our Lord is treating you like someone He considers strong: He wants to test you and see if you love Him as much at times of aridity as when He sends you consolations. I think this is a very great favor for God to show you.

To argue over who is the more noble is nothing more than to dispute whether dirt is better for making bricks or for making mortar.

Patient endurance attends to all things.

Granting that we are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in His presence in a very different sense; for they, as it were, see that He is looking upon them, while others may go for days on end without even once recollecting that God sees them.

To wish to act like angels while we are still in this world is nothing but folly.

Don't be curious of matters that don't concern you; never speak of them, and don't ask about them.