St. John of the Cross

“With strange brightness, both heat and light, to their beloved.”

“How gently and lovingly thou awakest in my breast, where in secret thou dwellest alone.”

“And in thy sweet breathing, full of grace and glory, how delicately thou inspirest my love.”

“All things are nothing if compared with God; all things in this world are vanity.”

“Whatever the soul desires beyond God is harmful to it.”

“The least act done for the love of God is more pleasing to Him than all the sufferings undertaken without that motive.”

“He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand.”

“He can hardly catch it again.”

“Whoever does not go forward in seeking and gaining the things of God, is going back.”

“For there is no standing still in the way of God.”

“He who has been most empty of his own will is most full of God.”

“O souls created for these grandeurs and called to them, what are you doing?”

“What is keeping you?”

“Your aspirations are mean, and your possessions are miseries!”

“O wretched blindness of the children of Adam!”

“O abyss of darkness! O great misery!”

“Even with eyes wide open, you do not see the great light shining around you.”

“Reflect, then, soul, that thou art created in the image of God.”

“Thou hast been redeemed by His blood; therefore live as one redeemed.”