You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God himself is the reason he is to be loved.
Saint BernardRead
There is a daily discussion with our servants about the price of food and the number of loaves: a conference with our presbyters to consider the sins of our people is a very rare occurrence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the disparity between mundane concerns and spiritual matters.
Saint Bernard's quote emphasizes the tendency of society to focus on material concerns, such as the cost of food and daily necessities, while neglecting deeper spiritual and ethical discussions. It suggests a need to prioritize moral considerations and the well-being of the community over the trivialities of life.
Themes
SpiritualityMaterialismCommunityMoralityValues
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting to discuss local initiatives, this quote could remind attendees to focus on the moral implications of their actions.
More from Saint Bernard
All quotes →God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and thereby the devil loses the sovereignty he had gained over the human heart.
Saint BernardRead
Who is there that can adequately gauge the greatness of the humility, gentleness, self-surrender, revealed by the Lord of majesty in assuming human nature, in accepting the punishment of death, the shame of the cross?
Saint BernardRead
Christian, learn from Christ how you ought to love Christ. Learn a love that is tender, wise, strong; love with tenderness, not passion, wisdom, not foolishness, and strength, lest you become weary and turn away from the love of the Lord.
Saint BernardRead
Even the holy men who lived before the coming of Christ understood that God had in mind plans of peace for the human race.
Saint BernardRead
The mind must first reflect upon itself in order that it may frame a rule of Justice, and not be inclined to do to another what it would not have done to itself, nor refuse to another what it desires for itself. These two assuredly comprise the whole sphere of Justice.
Saint BernardRead
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If we make sacrifices in doing good or in doing ill, it does not alter the ultimate value of our actions; even if we stake our life in the cause, as martyrs do for the sake of our church : it is a sacrifice to our longing for power, or for the purpose of conserving our sense of power.
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The just is close to the people's heart, but the merciful is close to the heart of God.
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Attachment and aversion are the root cause of karma, and karma originates from infatuation. Karma is the root cause of birth and death, and these are said to be the source of misery. None can escape the effect of their own past karma.
MahaviraRead
It is often argued that religion is valuable because it makes men good, but even if this were true it would not be a proof that religion is true. That would be an extension of pragmatism beyond endurance. Santa Claus makes children good in precisely the same way, and yet no one would argue seriously that the fact proves his existence. The defense of religion is full of such logical imbecilities.
H. L. MenckenRead
Our disrespect for thinking: someone sitting in a chair, gazing out of a window blankly, always described as 'doing nothing'.
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