Teresa of Ávila Quotes

Give me, if you will, prayers;
Or let me know dryness,
An abudance of devotion,
Or if not, then barrenness.
In you alone, Sovereign Majesty,
I find my peace,
What do you want of me?
Yours I am, fo ryou I was born:
What do you want of me?

The truly humble person always walks in doubt about his own virtues, and usually those he sees in his neighbors seem more certain and more valuable.

Seeing, then, that our Lord is so powerful, — as I see and know He is, — and that the evil spirits are His slaves, of which there can be no doubt, because it is of faith, — and I a servant of this our Lord and King, — what harm can Satan do unto me? Why have I not strength enough to fight against all hell? I took up the cross in my hand, — I was changed in a moment into another person, and it seemed as if God had really given me courage enough not to be afraid of encountering all the evil spirits.

But always when I was without a book, my soul at once became disturbed, and my thoughts wandered.

the Lord asks only two things of us: love for His Majesty and love for our neighbour.

It is certain that a man who has no need of anyone has many friends: in my own experience I have found this to be very true.

Never affirm anything unless you are sure it is true.

It will be as well, I think, to explain these locutions of God, and to describe what the soul feels when it receives them, in order that you, my father, may understand the matter; for ever since that time of which I am speaking, when our Lord granted me that grace, it has been an ordinary occurrence until now, as will appear by what I have yet to say. The words are very distinctly formed; but by the bodily ear they are not heard. They are, however, much more clearly understood than they would be if they were heard by the ear. It is impossible not to understand them, whatever resistance we may offer. When we wish not to hear anything in this world, we can stop our ears, or give attention to something else: so that, even if we do hear, at least we can refuse to understand. In this locution of God addressed to the soul there is no escape, for in spite of ourselves we must listen; and the understanding must apply itself so thoroughly to the comprehension of that which God wills we should hear, that it is nothing to the purpose whether we will it or not; for it is His will, Who can do all things.

When I fear I have done wrong, when I look to those who are less wise, when I forget transcendence, and kneel in the meanings of colour and shadow, when I tell lies to my soul, I seek out water, I follow it's charm - a river, a steam, a lake with its springs and currents.
See how it offers life as it flawlessly flows and forms to the shape of this world, the contours of the land, the urge of earth, hear how it sings under the sun, of endless evaporation.

: ¿cómo podrá el verdadero humilde pensar que es él tan bueno como los que llegan a ser contemplativos?

What is it we buy with this money we desire? Is it something valuable? Is it something lasting? Oh, why do we desire it? Miserable is the rest achieved that costs so dearly.

"Just these two words He spoke changed my life, "Enjoy Me"
What a burden I thought I was to carry-a crucifix as did He.
Love once said to me: "I know a song, would you like to hear it?"
And laughter came from every brick in the street and from every pore in the sky.
After a night of prayer, He changed my life when He sang "Enjoy me"."

I wanted to live, but saw clearly that I was not living - but rather wrestling with the shadow of death. There was no one to give me life, and I was not able to take it.

it has acquired prudence and discretion and orders its life well. Its limitations are those of vision: it has not yet experienced to the full the inspiring force of love. It has not made a full self-oblation, a total self-surrender. Its love is still governed by reason, and so its progress is slow.

Once, when she was travelling to one of her convents, St. Teresa of Ávila was knocked off her donkey and fell into the mud, injuring her leg. “Lord,” she said, “you couldn’t have picked a worse time for this to happen. Why would you let this happen?”

And the response in prayer that she heard was, “That is how I treat my friends.”

Teresa answered, “And that is why you have so few of them!