Thomas a Kempis Quotes

Simplicity and purity are the two wings by which a man is lifted above all earthly things. Simplicity is in the intention - purity in the affection. Simplicity tends to God, - purity apprehends and tastes Him.

Pure, holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh.

God always takes the simplest way.

And just because God attains and wins and finds this uniqueness, all our lives win in our union with him the individuality which is essential to their true meaning.

Heaven means to be one with God.

In a state of grace, the soul is like a well of limpid water, from which flow only streams of clearest crystal. Its works are pleasing both to God and man, rising from the River of Life, beside which it is rooted like a tree.

We need to return to the simplicity that God is love.

The first secret to loving others is to immerse yourself in a love relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - and abide there.

The purer I try to become, the nearer I feel to be to God.

People seek methods of learning to know God. Is it not much shorter and more direct to simply do everything for the love of Him? There is no finesse about it. One only has to do it generously and simply.

Perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God's.

The deepest desire of our hearts is for union for God. God created us for union with himself. This is the original purpose of our lives.

And what kind of habitation pleases God? What must our natures be like before he can feel at home within us? He asks nothing but a pure heart and a single mind. He asks no rich paneling, no rugs from the Orient, no art treasures from afar. He desires but sincerity, transparency, humility, and love. He will see to the rest.

Outer fire we need to cook. Inner fire we need to liberate. God's Fire we need to love.

Blest are the pure in heart, for they shall see our God. The secret of the Lord is theirs; Their soul is Christ's abode.

Real prayer is union with God, a union as vital as that of the vine to the branch.

Simplicity reaches out after God; purity discovers and enjoys Him.

What is love? Love to me is god.

Every true friend is a glimpse of God.

Two things make a relationship providential: when we hear from God through someone and when we see God in someone.

God can never be realized by one who is not pure of heart.

Are we in love with God or just His stuff?

Pure love of God is our nature, but we are so much diverted, so much distracted by the externals that we've forgotten that it's our essence.

Dare to love God without mediator or veil.

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. We feel it in a thousand things. I say that the heart naturally loves the Universal Being, and naturally loves itself; and it gives itself to one or the other, and hardens itself against one or the other, as it chooses...it is the heart that feels God, not the reason; this is faith.