Teresa of Avila Quotes

Christianity is not so much the advent of a better doctrine as of a perfect character.

Heart-suffering because of sin is the best proof that the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart.

Scriptures were written, not to satisfy our curiosity and make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints.

One way you can get really close to God is to sin as hard as you can.

Religion either makes men wise and virtuous, or it makes them set up false pretenses to both.

There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.

A steady diet of the higher truths might prove exhausting, but it's important that we acknowledge their validity and celebrate their survival.

The main object of religion is not to get a man into heaven, but to get heaven into him.

Religions have always stressed that compassion is not only central to religious life, it is the key to enlightenment and it the true test of spirituality. But there have always have been those who'd rather put easier goals, like doctrine conformity, in place.

Religion can be one of the greatest impediments to finding God.

Most importantly, the meaning of spirituality lays the seeds for our destiny and the path we must follow.

Faith is spiritualized imagination.

I say I haven't lost my religion. I've lost my ideology.

Genius without religion is only a lamp on the outer gate of a palace; it may serve to cast a gleam of light on those that are without, while the inhabitant sits in darkness.

If, then, faith widens the connections, it elevates the man.

Nobody gets argued all the way into becoming a believer on the sheer basis of logic and reason. That requires a leap of faith.

We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired.

My faith is my life. It defines me. My faith doesn’t influence my decisions; it drives them.

Your soul is between you and God.

I have read a lot of spiritual works and believe that our body is just a place for the soul to dwell.

I believe that meditation is the highest spiritual practice, the pathway to God.

Many people conceive of religion as something apart from everyday affairs of the world. They think of it in terms of ceremony or ritual or sermons and often it strikes them as being dull or not particularly interesting. Religion may be described in many ways. I like to think of it as a medicine, a healing medicine for the mind.

I even agree that the concept of god helps some people lead better lives. That does happen. Don't ever forget it. I just think there are better ways to help people lead better lives.

Plain horse sense ought to tell us that anything that makes no change in the man who professes it makes no difference to God, either.

You will never see the preciousness of a Savior, if you do not see the reality of your sin.