Bring all opposites inside yourself and reconcile them. Understand that you are everywhere: on the land, in the sea, in the sky. Realize that you haven’t yet been begotten, that you are still in the womb, that you are young, that you are old, that you are dead, that you are in the world beyond the grave. Hold all this […]
Francois Fenelon Quote – “The greatest of all crosses is self…”
The greatest of all crosses is self. If we die in part every day, we shall have but little to do on the last. These little daily deaths will destroy the power of the final dying. Francois Fenelon (1651 – 1715)
Francois Fenelon Quote – “Your imagination exaggerates how bad death will be…”
Many think that dying to themselves is what causes them so much pain. But it is actually the part of them that still lives that causes the problem. Death is only painful to you when you resist it. Your imagination exaggerates how bad death will be. Self-love fights with all of its strength to live. Die inwardly as well as […]
Francois Fenelon Quote – “Speak the truth simply…”
God will not only show you how physically weak you are, but how spiritually weak you are without Him. How strong you will be when you see that you are completely weak. Then you will always be able to believe that you are mistaken. Open yourself to the insight of others. Do not be dogmatic. Speak the truth simply. Allow […]
Francois Fenelon Quote – “We tempt God by our false wisdom…”
The crosses which we make for ourselves by over-anxiety as to the future are not Heaven-sent crosses. We tempt God by our false wisdom, seeking to forestall His arrangements, and struggling to supplement His Providence by our own provisions. The crosses actually laid upon us always bring their own special grace and consequent comfort with them; we see the Hand […]
Francois Fenelon Quote – “God never ceases to speak to us…”
God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without, and the tumult of our passions within, bewilder us, and prevent us from listening. All must be silent around us, and all must be still within us, when we would listen with our whole souls to this voice. It is a still, small voice, and is […]
Francois Fenelon Quote – “We only perceive our malady when the cure begins…”
As the light increases, we see ourselves to be worse than we thought. We are amazed at our former blindness as we see issuing forth from the depths of our heart a whole swarm of shameful feelings, like filthy reptiles crawling from a hidden cave. We never could have believed that we had harbored such things, and we stand aghast […]
Epictetus Quote – “Many persons use greater care to avoid…”
Many persons use greater care to avoid injuries to the body rather than to shun harm to the soul. Thou art not flesh and hair but a will. If thou keep this beautiful then will you be beautiful. Epictetus (55 – 135 A.D.)
Epictetus Quote – “The characteristic of a philosopher…”
The characteristic of a philosopher is that he looks to himself for all help or harm. The marks of a proficient are that he censures no one, praises no one, blames no one, accuses no one, says nothing concerning himself as being anybody, or knowing anything. When he is in any instance hindered or restrained he accepts this as his […]
Epictetus Quote – “There is only one thing for which God sent me into this world…”
There is only one thing for which God sent me into this world and that is to perfect my nature in all sorts of virtue and strength, and there is no thing that I cannot use for that purpose. Epictetus (55 – 135 A.D.)