Great Throughts Treasury

"Knowledge of ourselves teaches us whence we come, where we are and whither we are going. We come from God and we are in exile; and it is because our potency of affection tends towards God that we are aware of this state of exile."

"The image of God is found essentially and personally in all mankind. Each possess it whole, entire and undivided, and all together not more than one alone. In this way we are all one, intimately united in our eternal image, which is the image of God and the source in us of all our life. Our created essence and our life are attached to it without mediation as to their eternal cause."

"You are as holy as you wish to be."

"When love has carried us above all things...we receive in peace the Incomprehensible Light, enfolding us and penetrating us. What is this Light, if it not be a contemplation of the Infinite and an intuition of Eternity? We behold that which we are, and we are that which we behold, because our being...is united with the Divine Truth."

"The measure of your holiness is proportionate to the goodness of your will."

"The inward stirring and touching of God makes us hungry and yearning; for the Spirit of God hunts our spirit: and the more it touches it, the greater our hunger and our craving. And this is the life of love in its highest working, above reason and above understanding; for reason can here neither give nor take away from love, for our love is touched by the Divine love. And as I understand it, here there can never more be separation from God. God’s touch within us, forasmuch as we feel it, and our own loving craving, these are both created and creaturely; and therefore they may grow and increase as long as we live."

"My words are strange, but those who love will understand."

"Unity is this: that a man feel himself to be gathered together with all his powers in the unity of his heart. Unity brings inward peace and restfulness of heart. Unity of heart is a bond which draws together body and soul, heart and senses, and all the outward and inward powers and encloses them in the union of love."

"Compassion is a wound in the heart whence flows a common love to all mankind and which cannot be healed so long as any suffering lives in man."

"The incomprehensible richness and loftiness of the Divine Nature, its outpouring generosity toward all in common, fills a man with wonder. "