Ponder the fact that God has made you a gardener, to root out vice and plant virtue.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
Merit consists in the virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion without which the soul is worth nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True merit is derived from love and the wisdom of discernment.
In this quote, St. Catherine of Siena emphasizes that genuine worth is rooted in love, and that love must be tempered with true discretion or wisdom to give the soul its true value. Without the guiding light of discernment, one's worth becomes diminished, suggesting that love on its own, while powerful, must be guided by understanding to be truly meaningful.
Themes
MeritLoveDiscretionWisdomSoul
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a wedding speech, emphasizing the role of love and wisdom in a marriage.
More from St. Catherine Of Siena
All quotes βWhen it seems that God shows us the faults of others, keep on the safer side-it may be that your judgment is false. On your lips let silence abide. And any vice that you may ascribe to others, ascribe at once to them and yourself, in true humility. If that vice really exists in a person, he will correct himself better, seeing himself so gently understood, and will say of his own accord the thing that you would have said to him.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
O unfathomable depth! O Deity eternal! O deep ocean! What more could You give me than to give me Yourself?
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand. He uses both.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
There is no perfect virtue-none that bears fruit- unless it is exercised by means of our neighbor.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
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I will never hurt you. I will always help you. If you are hungry Ill give you my food. If you are frightened I am your friend. I love you now. And love does not end.
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Even stones have a love, a love that seeks the ground.
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