Teresa of Ávila Quotes

It is true that I might stumble for trying to do too much too soon, but it is also certain that I will never succeed if I hope for too little, or out of fear of failing start not at all.

Love makes labour light. Love alone gives value to all things.

la verdadera humildad está mucho en estar muy prontos en contentarse con lo que el Señor quisiere hacer de ellos, y siempre hallarse indignos de llamarse sus siervos.

There is no life more real than the interior life of the soul;

It is a most certain truth that the richer we see ourselves to be, confessing at the same time our poverty, the greater will be our progress, and the more real our humility.

Believe me, friends, it is a great thing to realize the truth of this so that we may see how deceptive are earthly things and favours when they deflect the soul in any way from its course and hinder it from entering within itself.

My fondness for good books was my salvation.

God save us from gloomy saints!” — St. Theresa of Avila

MY DAY IS ENDING Let nothing, O Lord, disturb the silence of this night. Let nothing make me afraid. For you are with me, and I am with you. Let me not be shy in your presence. Rather let me speak with you in confidence, trust, and love. For you are my father and mother, my brother and sister, my lord, my spouse. In whatever way pleases you, teach me what I must do to please you. However undeserving I am, I humbly ask you to fill this night with the gifts of your love, with the gift of yourself. For if I have you, God, I will want for nothing. You alone suffice.

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.

Authentic prayer changes us, unmasks us, strips us, indicates where growth is needed.

that true perfection consists in the love of God and our neighbour, and the better we keep both these commandments, the more perfect we shall be.

God is not only the most high, he is also the all-near as well. Teresa's discovery of the presence of God within every soul came in the light of a contemplative grace.

How wonderful it is that He Whose greatness could fill a thousand worlds, and very many more, should confine Himself within so small a space, just as He was pleased to dwell within the womb of His most holy Mother!

Tengo para mí que honras y dineros casi siempre andan juntos, y que quien quiere honra no aborrece dineros, y que quien los aborrece que se le da poco de honra.