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Saint Basil Quotes

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Famous Saint Basil Quotes

“What is the benefit of fasting in our body while filling our souls with innumerable evils? He who does not play at dice, but spends his leisure otherwise, what nonsense does he not utter? What absurdities does he not listen to? Leisure without the fear of God is, for those who do not know how to use time, the teacher of wickedness.”

KnowsDoeSoulPlayUseBodyEvilKnow HowTeacherBenefitsNonsenseLeisureAbsurdityWickednessFillingFastingDice
Book:Exegetic Homilies (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 46)
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“I have learned from Jesus Christ Himself what charity is, and how we ought to practise it; for He says: "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye love one another." Never can I, therefore, please myself in the hope that I may obtain the name of a servant of Christ if I possess not a true and unfeigned charity within me.”

IfsKnowsMenMayJesusNamesChristOughtPleaseJesus ChristCharityServantI Have LearnedDiscipleLove One AnotherPractise
Author:Saint Basil
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“In truth, to know oneself seems to be the hardest of all things. Not only our eye, which observes external objects, does not use the sense of sight upon itself, but even our mind, which contemplates intently another's sin, is slow in the recognition of its own defects.”

KnowsMindDoeUseSeemsEyeSinObjectsAll ThingsSightOneselfHardestRecognitionContemplatingDefectsKnowing Oneself
Book:Exegetic Homilies (The Fathers of the Church, Volume 46)
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“[Every disappointment or misfortune can become a blessing in disguise, for which we should be grateful. But only if the hidden blessing is anticipated, expected and searched for will it be found and recognised as such and the most made of it. For example...] Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger.”

IfsKnowsMenShouldMadeFallFoundExampleBlessingRainGratefulHungerDisappointmentExpectedCurseAbundanceMisfortunesAnticipationDisguiseBe GratefulBlessings In Disguise
Author:Saint Basil
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