The Imitation of Christ

All quotes taken from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), translated by Ronald Knox & Michael Oakley.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

Let us have no flattery of the rich, no fondness for being seen about with important people; humble and simply folk, the pious and the well-disciplined — these are to be your associates, and your talk must be of gracious things.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

The only clear-sighted man is one who treats all earthly achievements as dirt, because he wants to win Christ.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

After all, nobody's praise is going to make a Saint of you, and nobody's abuse is going to make a villain of you; you are just what you are, the thing God sees in you — there's no going beyond that.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

There's only one kind of record a good Christian man thinks worth having, and that's the record of a clear conscience.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

Never think that you have made any progress, till you have learned to regard all men as your betters.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

The man who ranks himself below all others and counts himself unworthy of God's favour is better fitted for receiving that favour in greater measure.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

Give me, Lord, a greater store of your grace, to enable me to keep your word and ensure my salvation.

~The Learner

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

This is what you must desire: that in you, whether by your life or by your death, God may always be glorified.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

This place is meant to test people, like the furnace in which you assay gold; and only one thing will help you to stand up to the test — whole-hearted self-abasement for the love of God.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

The wider, the more exact your learning, the more severe will be your judgement, if it has not taught you to live holily. No art, no science should make a man proud of possessing it; such gifts are a terrifying responsibility.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

I may die and bear no fruit, if I have been warmed only from outside and not been kindled to flame within. When the Judgement comes, do not let me be ranked with those who heard the Word & failed to obey it, knew it & did not love it, believe it & failed to keep it.

~The Learner

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

Put no confidence in the knowledge you have acquired, or in the skill of any human counsellor; rely on God's grace — he brings aid to the humble, and only humiliation to the self-confident.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

If Christ is yours, then wealth is yours; he satisfies all your wants.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

Put constraint on yourself, or never a fault will you overcome.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

The time when you may reckon you have found peace is when you have been harassed by various temptations and put to the proof by much adversity.

~The Beloved

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

The man who doesn't keep clear of petty faults will gradually slip into graver ones.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

If you have died together with Christ, together with him you will have life; if you have shared his suffering you will also share his glory.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

If it's yourself you're looking for, it's yourself you're going to find, and that to your own hurt, because a man is a greater bane to himself, if he doesn't look for Jesus, than the whole world is, or the whole host of his enemies.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

Do not boast of riches, if you happen to posses them, nor about the important friends you have; boast rather of God's friendship — He can give us all we want, and longs to give us something more, Himself.

[The Imitation of Christ @thomaskempis1]

After all, when a man is not conscious of any difficulties in his path, is it any special credit to him to be devout and zealous? But let him carry himself patiently when everything goes against him — then there is good promise of spiritual advancement.