Quotes by Teresa of Avila

“Christ has no body now but mine. He prays in me, works in me, looks through my eyes, speaks through my words, works through my hands, walks with my feet and loves with my heart.”

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

“Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love.”

“Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think m...”

“Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”

“The tree that is beside the running water is fresher and gives more fruit.”

“It is no small misfortune and disgrace that, through our own fault, we neither understand our nature nor our origin.”

“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”

“I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.”

“Those who give themselves to prayer should in a special manner have always a devotion to St. Joseph; for I know not how any man can think of the Queen of the angels, during the time that she suffer...”

“For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”

“The custom of speaking to God Almighty as freely as with a slave - caring nothing whether the words are suitable or not, but simply saying the first thing that comes to mind from being learnt by ro...”

“God has been very good to me, for I never dwell upon anything wrong which a person has done, so as to remember it afterwards. If I do remember it, I always see some other virtue in that person.”

“When I took the habit, the Lord immediately showed me how He favours those who do violence to themselves in order to serve Him. No one saw what I endured... At the moment of my entrance into this n...”

“May God protect me from gloomy saints.”

“To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.”

“I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.”

“Whoever has not begun the practice of prayer, I beg for the love of the Lord not to go without so great a good. There is nothing here to fear but only something to desire.”

“To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.”

“What value is there in faith without works? And what are they worth if they are not united to the merits of Jesus Christ, our only good?”