Therese of Lisieux Quotations | Page 2

Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender.

Let us not be justices of the peace, but angels of peace.

Suffering is the very best gift He has to give us. He gives it only to His chosen friends.

Perfect love means putting up with other peoples shortcomings, feeling no surprise at their weaknesses, finding encouragement even in the slightest evidence of good qualities in them.

If I am despised by the world, If it considers me as nothing, A divine peace flood me. For I have the Host as my support. When I draw near the ciborium, All my sighs are heard... To be nothing is my glory. I am the atom of Jesus...

Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident - in the most audacious way - in His Fatherly goodness.

It isn't enough to love; we must prove it.

Much later, when I understood what perfection was, I realized that to become a saint one must suffer a great deal, always seek what is best, and forget oneself. I understood that there were many kinds of of sanctity and that each soul was free to respond to the approaches of Our Lord and to do little or much for Him - in other words,to make a choice among the sacrifices He demands.

The country in which I live is not my native country, that lies elsewhere, and it must always be the center of my longings.

It's true, I suffer a great deal-but do I suffer well? That is the question.

Receive Communion often, very often...there you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing...

I want to give myself totally to Him...I want to live no longer but for Him.

It is love alone that counts.

What offends Him and what wounds His Heart is the lack of confidence...Your heart is made to love Jesus, to love Him passionately...We have only the short moments of our life to love Jesus!

In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.

Silence does good to the soul.

Prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trail as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.

Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words.

I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul.

Even now I know it: yes, all my hopes will be fulfilled... yes... the Lord will work wonders for me which will surpass infinitely my immeasurable desires.

Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be.

When one loves, one does not calculate.

I have not the courage to search through books for beautiful prayers. . . Unable either to say them all or choose between them, I do as a child would do who cannot read-I say just what I want to say to God, quite simply, and he never fails to understand.

We who run in the way of Love must never torment ourselves about anything. If I did not suffer minute by minute, it would be impossible for me to be patient; but I see only the present moment, I forget the past, and take good care not to anticipate the future. If we grow disheartened, if sometimes we despair, it is because we have been dwelling on the past or the future.

God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be realized; so in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a saint.

Love is nourished only by sacrifices, and the more a soul refuses natural satisfactions, the stronger and more disinterested becomes her tenderness.

It is my weakness that gives me all my strength.

If I did not simply live from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient, but I only look at the present, I forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall the future.

I am very far from practicing what I understand.

You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.

And it is the Lord, it is Jesus, Who is my judge. Therefore I will try always to think leniently of others, that He may judge me leniently, or rather not at all, since He says: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.

Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude.

Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.

Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.

A word or a smile is often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.

Let us love, since our heart is made for nothing else.

I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused.

For me, prayer means launching out of the heart towards God; it means lifting up one's eyes, quite simply, to heaven, a cry of grateful love, from the crest of joy or the trough of despair; it's a vast, supernatural force which opens out my heart, and binds me close to Jesus.

Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be and becoming that person.

Sufferings gladly borne for others convert more people than sermons.

The loveliest materpiece of the heart of God is the love of a Mother.

Discouragement itself is a form of pride.

How can the good God Who loves us so much, be happy when we suffer? Never does our suffering make Him happy; but it is necessary for us, and so He sends it to us while, as it were, turning away His Face. . . I assure you that it costs Him dearly to fill us with bitterness.

As the sun shines both on the cedar and the smallest flower, so the Divine sun illumines each soul.

Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors.

Above the clouds the sky is always blue.

Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.

Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.

I want to shine like a little candle before His altar.

We must do everything we are obliged to do; give without reckoning, practice virtue whenever opportunity offers, constantly overcome ourselves, prove our love by all the little acts of tenderness and consideration we can muster. In a word, we must produce all the good works that lie within our strength - out of love for God.

Jesus does not so much look at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.

Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity.

Love is a universe of its own, comprising all time and space.

The value of life does not depend upon the place we occupy. It depends upon the way we occupy that place.

Trying to do good to people without God's help is no easier than making the sun shine at midnight. You discover that you've got to abandon all your own preferences, your own bright ideas, and guide souls along the road our Lord has marked out for them. You mustn't coerce them into some path of your own choosing.

When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens,I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.

Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.

Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs - everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness. Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events - to the heart that loves, all is well.

Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God alone remains.