Saint Basil Quotes
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
If every man took only what was sufficient for his needs, leaving the rest to those in want, there would be no rich and no poor.
The hairsplitting difference between formed and unformed makes no difference to us. Whoever deliberately commits abortion is subject to the penalty for homicide.
It is not he who begins well who is perfect. It is he who ends well who is approved in God's sight.
We need not only read Sacred Scripture, but learn it as well and grow up in it. Realize that nothing is written in Scripture unnecessarily. Not to read Sacred Scripture is a great evil.
There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside.
Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
Every divine action begins from the Father, proceeds through the Son, and is completed in the Holy Spirit.
The steam of meat darkens the light of the spirit...One hardly can have virtue when one enjoys meat meals and feasts.
As the pilot of a vessel is tried in the storm; as the wrestler is tried in the ring, the soldier in the battle, and the hero in adversity: so is the Christian tried in temptation.
Lust hath these three companions: the first, blindness of understanding; the second, hardness of heart; the third, want of grace.
Drunkenness, the ruin of reason, the destruction of strength, premature old age, momentary death.
O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all you necessities. Call her to your assistance, for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity.
Does not the gratitude of the dog put to shame any man who is ungrateful to his benefactors?
Just as a very little fresh water is blown away by a storm of wind and dust, in like manner the good deeds, that we think we do in this life, are overwhelmed by the multitude of evils.
When you have become God's in the measure he desires, then he himself will bestow you upon others; unless, to your greater glory, he chooses to keep you all to himself.
I heard many discourses which were good for the soul, but I could not discover in the case of any one of the teachers that his life was worthy of his words.
The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With us there is no nice enquiry as to its being formed or unformed.
There is nothing unpremeditated, nothing neglected by God. His unsleeping eye beholds all things.
Indulging in unrestrained and immoderate laughter is a sign of intemperance, of a want of control over one's emotions, and of failure to repress the soul's frivolity by a stern use of reason.
Therefore, let God inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the Word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth
All who call the Holy Ghost a creature we pity, on the ground that, by this utterance, they are falling into the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against Him.
I reckon silence more profitable than speech, for? in the words of the Preacher, 'The words of wise men are heard in quiet' (Eccles. 9:17).
A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is answerable for murder. And any fine distinction as to its being completely formed or unformed is not admissible amongst us.
If you begin to guard wealth it will not be yours. But if you begin to distribute it, you will not lose it.
He who confesses magic or sorcery shall do penance for the time of murder, and shall be treated in the same manner as he who convicts himself of this sin.
It is right to submit to a higher authority whenever a command of God would be violated.
If someone has repented once of a sin, and again does the same sin, this is a sign that he has not been cleansed of the causes of the sin, wherefrom, as from a root, the shoots spring forth again.
If, therefore, there is any grace in the water, it is not from the nature of water but from the Spirit's presence there.
What is the mark of love for your neighbor? Not to seek what is for your own benefit, but what is for the benefit of the one loved, both in body and in soul.
... if, to me, to live is Christ (Phil. 1:21), truly my words ought to be about Christ, my every thought and deed ought to depend upon His commandments, and my soul to be fashioned after His.
Do not measure your loss by itself; if you do, it will seem intolerable; but if you will take all human affairs into account you will find that some comfort is to be derived from them.
Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a good man's fortune.
If everyone would take only according to his needs and would leave the surplus to the needy, no one would be rich, no one poor, no one in misery.
We must always be on guard lest, under the pretext of keeping one commandment, we be found breaking another.
We should not think that we achieve success in preaching through our own devices, but we should rely entirely on God.
All of us who desire the kingdom of God are, by the Lord's decree, under an equal and rigorous necessity of seeking after the grace of Baptism.