Top 108 Quotes & Sayings by Bernard of Clairvaux

Theirs is an endless road, a hopeless maze, who seek for goods before they seek for God.

To serve Mary is a mark of eternal salvation to come.

You wish to see; listen. Hearing is a step toward Vision.

The Eucharist is that love which surpasses all loves in Heaven and on earth

God will become visible as God's image is reborn in you.

What we love we shall grow to resemble.

Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son.

Action and contemplation are very close companions; they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha and Mary are sisters.

Many appear full of mildness and sweetness as long as everything goes their own way; but the moment any contradiction or adversity arises, they are in a flame, and begin to rage like a burning mountain. Such people as these are like red-hot coals hidden under ashes. This is not the mildness which Our Lord undertook to teach us in order to make us like unto Himself.

If anyone makes himself his own master in the spiritual life, he makes himself scholar to a fool.

We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable.

O Blessed Mary, whoever loves you honors God; whoever serves you pleases God; whoever invokes your holy name with a pure heart will infallibly receive the object of his petition.

As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are humiliations the path that leads to humility.

What I know of the divine science and holy scripture, I learnt in the woods and fields.

The peacemakers shall be called the sons of God, who came to make peace between God and man. What then shall the sowers of discord be called, but the children of the devil? And what must they look for but their father's portion?

When God forgives a sinner who humbly confesses his sin, the devil loses his dominion over the heart he had taken.

Many of those who are humiliated are not humble. Some react to humiliation with anger, others with patience, and others with freedom. The first are culpable, the next harmless, the last just.

Prayer is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations.

Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.

there are four degrees of love: 1) Love of self for self's sake. 2) Love of God for self's sake. 3) Love of God for God's own sake. 4) Love of self for God's sake.

All things are possible to one who believes.

Learn first to love yourself, and then you can love me.

Ingratitude is the soul's enemy... Ingratitude is a burning wind that dries up the source of love, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace.

If then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. For a canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its superabundant water. In the Church at the present day, we have many canals, few reservoirs.

We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those who love us.

God will either give us what we ask, or what He knows to be better for us.

Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to Thee again. We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. O Jesus, ever with us stay, Make all our moments calm and bright; Chase the dark night of sin away, Shed o'er the world Thy holy light.

Love seeks no cause beyond itself and no fruit; it is its own fruit, its own enjoyment. I love because I love; I love in order that I may love.

Wherever...thou shalt be, pray secretly within thyself. If thou shalt be far from a house of prayer, give not thyself trouble to seek for one, for thou thyself art a sanctuary designed for prayer. If thou shalt be in bed, or in any other place, pray there; thy temple is there.

Your actions in passing, pass not away, for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life.

Love of Mary and devotion to her are a sure sign of obtaining eternal salvation.

Grace is necessary to salvation, free will equally so - but grace in order to give salvation, free will in order to receive it.

Inordinate love for the flesh is cruelty, because under the appearance of pleasing the body, we kill the soul.

Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.

Expect much of God, and he will do much for you.

Death is the gate of life.

Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you need is not a sceptre but a hoe.

He rightly reads scripture who turns words into deeds.

True love does not demand a reward, but it deserves one.

He won me over entirely by giving Himself entirely to me.

The reason for our loving God is God.

If you would know whether you have made a good confession, ask yourself I you have resolved to abandon your sins.

It is a fault, not a virtue, to wish your humility recognized and applauded.

The measure of love is love without measure.

The three most important virtues are humility, humility, and humility.

With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception; while she holds your hand, you cannot fall; under her protection you have nothing to fear; if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.

What I know of the divine sciences and Holy Scriptures, I learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.

It was love that motivated His self-emptying, that led Him to become a little lower than angels, to be subject to parents, to bow His head beneath the Baptist's hands, to endure the weakness of the flesh, and to submit to death even upon the cross

Death is the gate of life. Ingratitude is the soul's enemy... Ingratitude is a burning wind that dries up the source of love, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace. You will find something far greater in the woods than you will find in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.

Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.

Love is alone sufficient by itself, it pleases by itself and for it's own sake. It is itself a merit, and itself it's own recompense. It seeks neither cause, nor consequences beyond itself. It is its own fruit, its own object and usefulness. I love because I love you, I love that I may love.

The piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that I may see the good will of the Lord. And what can I see as I look through the hole? Both the nail and the wound cry out that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself... Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love.

The rivers of Grace cannot flow uphill, up the steep cliff of the proud man's heart.

It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment.

Love me, love my dog.

There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.

Spiritual life is like living water that springs up from the very depths of our own spiritual experience. In spiritual life everyone has to drink from his or her own well.

The tears of those repenting are the wine of angels.

The true measure of loving God is to love him without measure.

The spiteful tongue strikes a deadly blow at charity in all who hear him speak and, so far as it can, destroys root and branch, not only in the immediate hearers but also in all others to whom the slander, flying from lip to lip, is afterwards repeated.