...Where and when God finds you ready, he must act and overflow into you, just as when the air is clear and pure, the sun must overflow into it and cannot refrain from doing that.

It is a fair trade and an equal exchange: to the extent that you depart from things, thus far, no more and no less, God enters into you with all that is his, as far as you have stripped yourself of yourself in all things. It is here that you should begin, whatever the cost, for it is here that you will find true peace, and nowhere else.

There is nothing so much like God in all the universe as silence.

Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things, or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things and find God there.

Our bodily food is changed into us, but our spiritual food changes us into it.

People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works.

Let God operate in thee; Hand the work over to Him and do not disquiet thyself as to whether or no He is working with nature or above nature, for His are both nature and grace.

People who have let go of themselves are so pure that the world cannot harm them.

Truth is something so noble that if God could turn aside from it, I could keep the truth and let God go.

All that God asks you most pressingly is to go out of yourself … and let God be God in you

Only those who have dared to let go can dare to re-enter.

Let God work in you, give the work to God, and have peace. Don't worry if He works through your nature or above your nature, because both are His, nature and grace.

Once a man came to me - it was not too long ago - and said that he had given away much landed property and many goods for his own sake so that he might save his soul. Then I thought: 'How little and how insignificant is what you have let go of! It is blindness and foolishness for you to continue looking at all you've let go of. If, however, you've let go of yourself, then you've really let go.'

The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life: your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away, but they're not punishing you, they're freeing your soul. If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. If you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth.

The very best and highest attainment in this life is to remain still and let God act and speak in you.

For the person who has learned to let go and let be, nothing can ever get in the way again.

The very best and noblest attainment in this life is to be silent and let God work and speak within. Therefore it is said: 'In the midst of silence the secret word was spoken to me'.

The knower and the known are one. Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge.

Some people prefer solitude. They say their peace of mind depends on this. Others say they would be better off in church. If you do well, you do well wherever you are. If you fail, you fail wherever you are. Your surroundings don't matter. God is with you everywhere -- in the market place as well as in seclusion or in the church. If you look for nothing but God, nothing or no one can disturb you. God is not distracted by a multitude of things. Nor can we be.

Behold how all those people are merchants who shun great sins and would like to be good and do good deeds in God's honour, such as fasts, vigils, prayers, and similar good deeds of all kinds. They do all these things so that our Lord may give them something, or so that God may do something dear to them. All these people are merchants.

People who have let go of themselves are so pure that the world cannot harm them.

Some people want to see God with their eyes as they see a cow, and to love Him as they love a cow - for the milk and cheese and profit it brings them. This is how it is with people who love God for the sake of outward wealth or inward comfort. They do not rightly love God, when they love Him for their own advantage.

People should think less about what they ought to do and more about what they ought to be. If only their being were good, their works would shine forth brightly. Do not imagine that you can ground your salvation upon actions; it must rest on what you are.

Even now one rarely hears of people achieving great things unless they first stumble in some respect.

This is my only and permanent complaint, that vulgar people, empty of the Spirit of God, want to judge solely by their human thinking what they listen to or read in the Bible, which has been pronounced and written by the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit.

People who dwell in God dwell in the eternal now.

Whoever has God truly as a companion, is with him in all places, both on the streets, and among people, as well as in church, or in the desert or in a monastic cell...Why is this so? It is so because such a person possesses God alone, keeping their gaze fixed upon God, and thus all things become God for him or her. Such people be a God in all their deeds and in all the places they go, and it is God alone who is the author of all their deeds...

People should not worry so much about what they do but rather about what they are.

A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don't know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox's or bear's, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.

All God wants of man is a peaceful heart.

You need seek God neither below or above.He is no farther away than the door of the heart.

A pure heart is one that is unencumbered, unworried, uncommitted and which does not want its own way about anything but which, rather, is submerged in the loving will of God.

I need to be silent for awhile, worlds are forming in my heart.

For a heart to be perfectly ready it has to be perfectly empty. In this condition it has attained its maximum capacity.

God does not work in all hearts alike, but according to the preparation and sensitivity He finds in each.

Wisdom consists in doing the next think you have to do, doing it with your whole heart, and finding delight in doing it.

What good is it that Christ was born [2,000] years ago if he is not born now in your heart?

God wants nothing from you but the gift of a peaceful heart.

Do exactly what you would do if you felt most secure.

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.

The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.

Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.

There is no stopping place in this life -- nor is there ever one for any man, no matter how far along his way he's gone.

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you', it will be enough.

Love is the root of all joy and sorrow.

There is no stopping place in this life--nor is there ever one for any person, no matter how far along the way one's gone.

Think more about who you are and less about what you do, for if you are just, your ways will be just.

When I think of God's Kingdom, I am compelled to be silent because of its immensity, because God's Kingdom is none other than God himself with all His riches.

One must not always think so much about what one should do, but rather what one should be. Our works do not ennoble us; but we must ennoble our works.