John Chrysostom quotes - page 6

This is what an excellent teacher does; he does not follow his disciples' fancy everywhere, but leads them to his own mind, and pulls up the thorns, and then puts the seed in, and does not answer at once in all cases to the questions put to him. (John Chrysostom)
Fasting is a medicine. View quote
John Chrysostom
If you are a Christian, no earthly city is yours. Of our City ‘the Builder and Maker is God.' Though we may gain possession of the whole world, we are withal but strangers and sojourners in it all. We are enrolled in heaven: our citizenship is there! Let us not, after the manner of little children, despise things that are great, and admire those which are little! Not our city's greatness, but virtue of soul is our ornament and defence. If you suppose dignity to belong to a city, think how many persons must partake in this dignity, who are whoremongers, effeminate, depraved and full of ten thousand evil things, and at last despise such honour! But that City above is not of this kind; for it is impossible that he can be a partaker of it, who has not exhibited every virtue. View quote
John Chrysostom
He is mistaken who thinks that the fast consists only in abstinence from food. True fasting is departing from evil. View quote
John Chrysostom
I beg that, chiefest of all, you will remember constantly that not to share our own riches with the poor is a robbery of the poor, and a depriving them of their livelihood; and that that which we possess is not only our own, but also theirs. If our minds are disposed in accordance with this truth, we shall freely use all our possessions; we shall feed Christ while hungering here, and we shall lay up great treasures there. View quote
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. View quote
John Chrysostom
If we must remember offenses, let us remember only our own. View quote
John Chrysostom
The drunken man is a living corpse. View quote
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. View quote
John Chrysostom
He that enjoys naught without thanksgiving is as though he robbed God. View quote
John Chrysostom
Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan. (John Chrysostom)
The saints were not saints because they never erred, but because they never persisted in their errors; they fell, but they arose; they sinned, but they repented; they went astray, but they returned. View quote
John Chrysostom
What good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger. Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well. View quote
John Chrysostom
Let us pass to the despotic part of the soul, spirit. We must not eliminate it utterly from the youth nor yet allow him to use it all the time. Let us train boys from earliest childhood to be patient when they suffer wrongs themselves, but, if they see another being wronged, to sally forth courageously and aid the sufferer in fitting measure. View quote
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. View quote
John Chrysostom
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. View quote
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. View quote
John Chrysostom
Laughter does not seem to be a sin, but it leads to sin. View quote
John Chrysostom
If you knew how quickly people would forget you after your death, you would not seek in your life to please anyone but God. View quote
John Chrysostom
A man's readiness and commitment are not enough if he does not enjoy help from above as well; equally help from above is no benefit to us unless there is also commitment and readiness on our part. View quote
John Chrysostom
The Priest is the common father, as it were, of all the world; it is proper therefore that he should care for all, even as God, Whom he serves. (John Chrysostom)
For what advantage is it, that the world enjoys profound peace, if thou art at war with thyself? This then is the peace we should keep. If we have it, nothing from without will be able to harm us. And to this end the public peace contributes no little: whence it is said, ‘That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.' But if any one is disturbed when there is quiet, he is a miserable creature. Seest thou that He speaks of this peace which I call the third (inner, ed.) kind? Therefore when he has said, ‘that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life,' he does not stop there, but adds ‘in all godliness and honesty.' But we cannot live in godliness and honesty, unless that peace be established. For when curious reasonings disturb our faith, what peace is there? or when spirits of uncleanness, what peace is there? View quote
John Chrysostom
A comprehended god is no god. View quote
John Chrysostom
Almsgiving above all else requires money, but even this shines with a brighter luster when the alms are given from our poverty. The widow who paid in the two mites was poorer than any human, but she outdid them all. View quote
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. View quote
John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom

Occupation: Clergyman
Born: 349
Died: 407
Quotes count: 271
Wikipedia: John Chrysostom

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