A biography for Saint Bernardhasn’t been written yet.
“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.”
“For every benefit conferred, God is to be praised in his gifts. Otherwise when the time of judgment comes, that man will be punished as an ingrate who cannot say to God: 'Your statutes were my song in the land of exile.'”
“Even the holy men who lived before the coming of Christ understood that God had in mind plans of peace for the human race.”
“Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you want is not a sceptre, but a hoe. The prophet does not rise to reign, but to root out the weeds.”
“There are people who go clad in tunics and have nothing to do with furs, who nevertheless are lacking in humility. Surely humility in furs is better than pride in tunics.”
“I was made a sinner by deriving my being from Adam; I am made just by being washed in the blood of Christ and not by Christ's 'words and example.'”
“Knowledge is sometimes superfluous: when we need it, we have it not.”
“I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.”
“You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.”
“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.”
“Is anything, in all respects, so influential as consideration? Does it not, by a kindly anticipation, create the divisions of the active life itself, in a manner rehearsing and arranging beforehand what has to be done?”
“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.”
“Custom turns everything upside down. Give it time, and what can resist its hardening effect? What does not yield to use? How many find that the bitterness they had formerly dreaded has, unfortunately, through use alone, turned to sweetness?”
“The impudence of the sinner displeases God as much as the modesty of the penitent gives him pleasure.”
“In truth, opinion may be taken for understanding; understanding cannot be taken for opinion. How so? Surely because opinion may be deceived; understanding cannot be. If it could, it would not be understanding but opinion. For true understanding has not only certain truth, but the knowledge of truth.”
“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.”
“Charity never lacks what is her own, all that she needs for her own security. Not alone does she have it, she abounds with it. She wants this abundance for herself that she may share it with all; and she reserves enough for herself so that she disappoints nobody. For charity is perfect only when full.”
“Humility is a good estate; founded thereon, the whole spiritual edifice grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Through humility, some have even possessed the gates of their enemies. For which of the virtues is so mighty to subdue the pride of demons and the tyranny of men?”
“We seek for truth in ourselves; in our neighbours, and in its essential nature. We find it first in ourselves by severe self scrutiny, then in our neighbours by compassionate indulgence, and, finally, in its essential nature by that direct vision which belongs to the pure in heart.”
“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.”