Thomas a Kempis

“First keep peace with yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”

“Out of sight, out of mind. The absent are always in the wrong.”

“Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither praise nor blame.”

“The only safe ruler is he who has learned to obey willingly.”

“Gladly we desire to make other men perfect, but we will not amend our own fault.”

“He who loves with purity considers not the gift of the lover, but the love of the giver.”

“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”

“Occasions do not make a man either strong or weak but they show what he is.”

“Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible.”

“It is much safer to obey than to rule.”

“We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are.”

“A humble knowledge of thyself is a surer way to God than a deep search after learning.”

“At the Day of Judgment, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done.”

“Wait for the Lord. Behave yourself manfully, and be of good courage. Do not be faithless, but stay in your place and do not turn back.”

“The acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step in repairing our loss.”

“Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.”

“Intelligence must follow faith, never precede it, and never destroy it.”

“Of two evils, the less is always to be chosen.”

“Man proposes, but God disposes.”

“Of two evils we must always choose the least.”