Quotes from Thomas a Kempis

Whom shall I trust, O Lord, whom shall I trust but Thee? Thou art the Truth, and deceivest not, nor canst be deceived. And on the other hand, Every man is a liar,(3) weak, unstable and frail, especially in his words, so that one ought scarcely ever to believe what seemeth to sound right on the face of it.

Truly all human glory, all temporal honour, all worldly exultation, compared to Thy eternal glory, is but vanity and folly.

He who seeks anything but God alone and the salvation of his soul will find only trouble and grief, and he who does not try to become the least, the servant of all, cannot remain at peace for long. You have come to serve, not to rule. You must understand, too, that you have been called to suffer and to work, not to idle and gossip away your time. Here men are tried as gold in a furnace. Here no man can remain unless he desires with all his heart to humble himself before God.

The highest does not stand without the lowest.

For the gifts of Nature belong to good and evil alike; but the proper gift of the elect is grace—that is, love— and they who bear the mark thereof are held worthy of everlasting life.

Peace is ever with the humble man, but in the heart of the proud there is envy and continual wrath.

The beginning of all temptations to evil is instability of temper and want of trust in God;

He doth much who loveth much. He doth much who doth well. He doth well who ministereth to the public good rather than to his own.

Give up everything, and you will gain everything; let go of your desires, and you will find peace.

Thinkest thou that thou shalt always have spiritual consolations at thy will? My Saints had never such, but instead thereof manifold griefs, and divers temptations, and heavy desolations. But patiently they bore themselves in all, and trusted in God more than in themselves, knowing that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.(2)

For a spiritual person, it is commendable to rarely venture out, avoid being seen, and have no desire to see others.

What doth it profit thee to enter into deep discussion concerning the Holy Trinity, if thou lack humility, and be thus displeasing to the Trinity? For verily it is not deep words that make a man holy and upright;