John Chrysostom quotes - page 4

John Chrysostom was an influential early Christian bishop and preacher, famed for his eloquent sermons and writings. Renowned as one of the greatest Church Fathers, he played a major role in shaping Christian theology and liturgy. He is remembered for his advocacy of social justice and his criticism of abuses within the church and society. Here are 238 of his quotes:

Such is friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as bright bodies emit rays to a distance, and flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell. With friends even poverty is pleasant. Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts; they only can know who have experienced. A friend is dearer than the light of heaven, for it would be better for us that the sun were exhausted than that we should be without friends.

John Chrysostom

Thus abide constantly with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the heart swallows the Lord and the Lord the heart, and the two become one.

John Chrysostom

God is everywhere. You decide whether you are close to Him or not.

John Chrysostom

It is not wine that is evil, but drunkenness.

John Chrysostom

Endurance is the queen of all virtues.

John Chrysostom

He is mistaken who thinks that the fast consists only in abstinence from food. True fasting is departing from evil.

John Chrysostom

God helps those who work, not those who are idle. No one helps an inactive person, but one who joins in the labor. The good God himself will bring...work to perfection.

John Chrysostom

Prayer is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings.

John Chrysostom

We should not bear it with bad grace if the answer to our prayer is long delayed. Rather, let us, because of this, show great patience and resignation. For He delays for this reason: that we may offer Him a fitting occasion of honoring us through His divine providence.

John Chrysostom

I do not think there are many among Bishops that will be saved, but many more that perish: and the reason is, that it is an affair that requires a great mind.

John Chrysostom

If we approach with faith, we too will see Jesus... for the Eucharistic table takes the place of the crib. Here the Body of the Lord is present, wrapped not in swaddling clothes but in the rays of the Holy Spirit.

John Chrysostom

The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt.

John Chrysostom

Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts.

John Chrysostom

Every family should have a room where Christ is welcome in the person of the hungry and thirsty stranger.

John Chrysostom

Where the husband, and the wife, and the children are in accord and united by the bonds of virtue, there is Christ among them.

John Chrysostom

It is better to err by excess of mercy than by excess of severity. . .Wilt thou become a Saint? Be severe to thyself but kind to others.

John Chrysostom

The beauty of woman is the greatest snare. Or rather, not the beauty of woman, but unchastened gazing! For we should not accuse the objects, but ourselves, and our own carelessness. Nor should we say, Let there be no women, but Let there be no adulteries. We should not say, Let there be no beauty, but Let there be no fornication. We should not say, Let there be no belly, but let there be no gluttony; for the belly makes not the gluttony, but our negligence. We should not say, that it is because of eating and drinking that all these evils exist; for it is not because of this, but because of our carelessness and insatiableness. Thus the devil neither ate nor drank, and yet he fell! Paul ate and drank, and ascended up to heaven!

John Chrysostom

Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan.

John Chrysostom

How many there are who still say, 'I want to see His shape, His image, His clothing, His sandals.' Behold, you do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him! You want to see His clothing. He gives Himself to you, not just to be seen but to be touched, to be eaten, to be received within .... Let all of you be ardent, fervent, enthusiastic. If the Jews stood, shoes on, staff in hand, and eating in haste, how much more vigilant should you be. They were about to go to Palestine; ... you are about to go to heaven.

John Chrysostom

It is a shame for a man to desire honor because of his noble progenitors, and not to deserve it by his own virtue.

John Chrysostom

If we must remember offenses, let us remember only our own. And if we remember our own sins, we shall never store up the sins of others.

John Chrysostom

Nothing does so much turn our life upside down, as delay and procrastination in the performance of our good works. Nay, this has often caused us to lose all.

John Chrysostom

Prayer is an all-efficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky unobscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings.

John Chrysostom