Quotessence
Home / Authors / Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis de Sales

Saint Francis de Sales Quotes

Bishop of Geneva

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsSaintSoulHeartLittlesWellsCatholicGivingHumilityMenSufferingMaySpiritualSpiritAll ThingsCharityImperfectionInspirationalDoeHoly

Famous Saint Francis de Sales Quotes

“When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.”

WayGivingHeartMaySoulActionSpiritualSpeakProofWelcomeYour SoulBehaveSpiritual LifeCommunionSacramentsEucharistHomageGazingBlessed SacramentHoly CommunionHoly Eucharist
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
Create image

“And when children begin to use their reason, fathers and mothers should take great pains to fill their hearts with the fear of God. This the good Queen Blanche did most earnestly by St. Louis, her son: witness her oft-repeated words, "My son, I would sooner see you die than guilty of a mortal sin;" words which sank so deeply into the saintly monarch's heart, that he himself said there was no day on which they did not recur to his mind, and strengthen him in treading God's ways.”

WayShouldMindHeartChildrenSaidReasonUsePainMotherDiesFatherSinSonGuiltyWitnessMortalsQueensMy SonMonarchsTreadingMortal SinBlanche
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
Create image

“Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls.”

GivingHeartSoulAdviceHumilityInfiniteSimplicitySaintGuidesYour SoulObedienceDisplayConfessionProfitableOpen Your HeartRecessInfinite Love
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
Create image

“How are you to meet the swarm of foolish attachments, triflings, and undesirable inclinations which beset you? By turning sharply away, and thoroughly renouncing such vanities, flying to the Saviour's Cross, and clasping His Crown of thorns to your heart, so that these little foxes may not spoil your vines. Beware of entering into any manner of treaty with the Enemy; do not delude yourself by listening to him while intending to reject him.”

HeartMayLittlesEnemyListeningCrossesFoolishFlyingVanityRejectsAttachmentCrownsFoxesEnteringInclinationSpoilThornsSaviourTreatiesVinesSwarmsUndesirableCrown Of Thorns
Book:The Saint Francis de Sales Collection [16 Books]
Create image

“Many great persons have been of opinion that love is no other thing than complacency itself, in which they have had much appearance of reason. For not only does the movement of love take its origin from the complacency which the heart feels at the first approach of good, and find its end in a second complacency which returns to the heart by union with the thing beloved--but further, it depends for its preservation on this complacency, and can only subsist through it as through its mother and nurse; so that as soon as the complacency ceases, love ceases.”

LoveFeelsFirstsHeartPersonsDoeHas BeensEndsReasonMotherLove IsOpinionMovementDependsReturnApproachUnionsAppearanceCeaseBelovedNursePreservationComplacencyGreat Person
Book:The Saint Francis de Sales Collection [16 Books]
Create image

“Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations, and say continually: 'The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart has trusted in Him and I am helped. He is not only with me but in me and I in Him.'”

GivingLooksHeartMayHappensCareTodaySufferingFatherImaginationLordBearsTomorrowMy HeartTake CareAnxiousTrustedWho CaresEverlastingShieldsCare For YouAnxious Thoughts
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
Create image

“Frequent not the company of immodest persons, especially if they be also impudent, as is generally the case; ...these corrupted souls and infected hearts scarcely speak to any, either of the same or a different sex, without causing them to fall in some degree from purity; they have poison in their eyes and in their breath, like basilisks. On the contrary, keep company with the chaste and virtuous; often meditate upon and read holy things; for the word of God is chaste, and makes those also chaste that delight in it.”

IfsHeartPersonsDifferentSoulEyeFallSpeakSexCompanyCasesHolyDegreesBreathsDelightContraryPoisonPurityWord Of GodVirtuousModestyChaste
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
Create image