Dying to Self Quotes

Dying to Self Quotes by the Saints

Let the sufferings of your Divine Redeemer be deeply impressed on your heart, and be assured that He, the Good Shepherd, will conduct you as a cherished lamb to His divine fold. And what is the fold of this amiable Shepherd? It is the bosom of His heavenly Father.  -- St. Paul of the Cross

I want to follow you and be like you, O my Jesus; I would rather be crucified with you than enjoy all the pleasures of this world without you.  -- St. Bernadette Soubirous

You see plainly that I do not mean to advise you to perform great austerities, but rather generously to mortify your passions and inclinations, detaching your heart and emptying it of all that is earthly, and exercising charity towards your neighbor and liberality towards the poor.  -- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Do not deceive yourself, you will obtain nothing except at the very point of the sword. That is to say, you must do violence to self, and be of the number of those who take Heaven by storm. -- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Prayer with tears, and having no scorn for anyone, destroy pride; but so do chastisements inflicted against our will.  -- St. Thalassios the Libyan

You have been sentenced to eat the bread of spiritual knowledge with toil, struggle and the sweat of your face (Gen. 3:19)  -- St. Thalassios the Libyan

For the wisdom of the flesh brings death, but that of the spirit brings life and peace, since the wisdom of the flesh is the enemy of God; it is not subject to God's law, nor can it be. And since the wisdom of the flesh is unable to bear the yoke of God's law, it cannot look upon it either, for its eyes are clouded with the smoke of pride. -- St. Peter Damian

We must detach ourselves from everything, and especially from ourselves, by continually thwarting our self-love. For example, a certain thing pleases us; we must leave it for the very reason that it pleases us. A certain person has injured us; we must do him good for this very reason. In a word, we must desire and not desire, exactly as God desires or does not desire, without inclination to any one thing; because we do not know that what we ourselves wish is the will of God. -- St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Those who reach the goal without falling do so through hating themselves and all worldly desires, distractions, pleasures and preoccupations, for this is what 'denying oneself' amounts to. Hence everyone expels himself from the kingdom by his own choice, through not embracing suffering and denying himself for the sake of the truth, but wanting to enjoy something of this world in addition to that divine longing, and not surrendering the whole inclination of his will to God. This may be understood from a single example. On examining himself a man realizes that what he is so eager to do is wicked. At first he feels doubt about it in his heart. Next, the measure and balance in his conscience make it clear inwardly whether the bias inclines to love for God or love for the world; and after that he proceeds to outward action. - St. Symeon Metaphrastis

Let us abandon everything to the merciful providence of God. -- St. Albert the Great

The intellect becomes a stranger to the things of this world when its attachment to the senses has been completely sundered.  - St. Thalassios the Libyan

If someone said to you, "I would like to become rich; what must I do?" you would answer him, "You must labor:" Well, in order to get to Heaven, we must suffer.  - St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Once you have surrendered yourself, you make yourself receptive. In receiving from God, you are perfected and completed.  - Fulton J. Sheen

By giving yourself to God, you not only receive Himself in exchange, but eternal life as well. -- St Francis de Sales

Your life consists in drawing nearer to God. To do this you must endeavor to detach yourself from visible things and remember that in a short time they will be taken from you.  -- Blessed John of Avila

If I wish to please God, I must do His Will and not my own.  -- St Alphonsus de Liguori

The fifth weapon is to remind oneself that we must die. This time is called the time of mercy in which God looks down day after day so that we can amend our lives from good to better. If we do not do this, we will have to render account, not only of the evils we have done, but also of the goods left undone by our negligence. - St. Catherine of Bologna

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