“All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
+
“Fire and water do not mix, neither can you mix judgement of others with the desire to repent. Even if someone should commit a sin before you at the very moment of death, pass no judgement because the judgement of God is hidden from human eyes. There have been those who have sinned immensely in the open but have done greater deeds in secret, so that those who would disparage them have been fooled, with smoke instead of sunlight in their eyes.”
Saint John Climacus
+
“Lord and Master of my life, do not permit the spirit of laziness and meddling, the lust of power and idle talk, to come unto me. Instead, grant me Your servant the spirit of prudence, humility, patience and love. Yes Lord and King, give me the power to see my own faults and not to judge my brother. For You are Blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.”
Saint Ephraim the Syrian
+
One day, Abba Moses was called join his brethren in passing judgement on a fellow Monk. He approached carrying a large sack on his shoulder, with a hole in it, with the dirt falling out behind him. He said to his brethren “I carry behind me my manifold sins where I cannot see them and I come to judge my brother.” Thus illumining all with God’s love, forgiveness and our need to repent for our own sins, the brethren then forgave the Monk and they all left in peace.
Saint Moses the Ethiopian
+
“Who ever thinks about the multitude of his own sins in his heart never wants to make the sins of others a topic of conversation.”
Saint Gennadios of Constantinople
+
“Often when someone throws a rock at a dog, rather than rushing at the person who threw the stone, the dog will run and bite the stone. We do the same thing. The tempter uses someone else to tempt us, either in word or deed, and rather than deal with the tempter, who threw the stone, we bite the rock, our fellow man that the hater of the good used against us.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
+
“Do not be vengeful; do not return evil for evil. The evil from your neighbour is sufficient. If you return evil for evil to him, you will double the evil in the world. If you do not return evil for evil to him, he can still burn out his evil through repentance. Thus, you will reduce evil in the world through patience and forgiveness. Do not be vengeful; do not return evil for evil. “But wait on the Lord,” He sees and remembers and, in your time, even you and your evil doer will know that God sees and remembers. You ask yourself: What have I done in that I have not returned evil for evil? You have done the wisest deed that you could do in the given situation; you have relinquished your struggle to the One Stronger than yourself and the Stronger will victoriously fight for you. If you enter into battle with the evil doer you might be defeated. But God cannot be defeated. Therefore, relinquish your struggle to the Victorious and Undefeated One and patiently wait. Learn from a small child. If someone attacks a child in the presence of his parents, the child does not return the attack by attacking but rather looks at his parents and cries. The child knows that his parents will protect him. How is it that you do not know what a little child knows? Your Heavenly Parent is constantly beside you. That is why, do not be vengeful; do not return evil for evil rather look at your Parent and cry. Only in this way will you guarantee victory for yourself in conflict with evil men. O Almighty Lord Who said: “Vengeance is Mine” (Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30), protect us from the unrighteous ones by Your almighty hand and restrain us from vengeance. Counsel us by Your Holy Spirit that the greater heroism is to endure rather than to avenge.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
+
“I warn you, my children, not to be so ready to mock at, or judge, the acts of other people. For we have often seen the sin of the fornicator, but his repentance, which he made in secret, we did not see, and we may have seen somebody steal, but we know nothing of the groanings and tears which he has offered to God. We still think of him as we saw him, a thief, a fornicator or a perjuror, but in the sight of God his secret repentance and confession have been accepted, and in His eyes he in honourable.”
Saint John the Merciful
+
“When thoughts of passing judgment on another person cross your mind, Pray God to take them away at once, so that you may love this person as He does. Then God will help you see your own faults. If Christ were visible, could you have such thoughts?”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
+
“Do not desire to hear about the misfortunes of your enemies. For those who like listening to such things will themselves suffer what they wish for others.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
+
“Judging is a great sin, when we exalt ourselves above others. All who exalt themselves are abominable before the Lord. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Matt. 23:12). When you judge others you judge God. Whether you’ve seen a thief, a loose woman, or a drunkard sprawled on the street, do not judge, because the Lord allowed their passions. Through these they should find the path to God — they should be humbled, see their own powerlessness, come to know the Lord, and repent. And are you pleasing to God? That means that the Lord in His grace and mercy is restraining your passions. Know that if He lets them go you will fall into worse sins, and perhaps you won’t manage to climb out of those sins and you’ll perish. Therefore be humble and cautious. You saw that a person sinned, but did you see how he later repented? Then don’t judge! Like a thread passing through the eye of a needle, so man experiences the same sin that he judged in another.”
Saint Gabriel, the New Confessor of Georgia
+
“Do not lose your temper with those who sin. Do not have a passion for noticing every sin in your neighbour and judging it, as we usually do. Everyone will give an answer for himself before God… But correct your own sins, your own heart.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“Speak well of those who speak evil of you. Pay good for evil. Pray for those who cause you various offenses, wrongs, temptations, persecutions. Whatever you do, on no account condemn anyone; do not even try to judge whether a person is good or bad, but keep your eyes on that one evil person for whom you must give an account before God – yourself.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
+
“When someone is occupied with his own faults, he does not see those of his neighbour.”
Saint Moses the Ethiopian
+
“Remember also that we are all weak, are very easily overcome by passions, and therefore be meek and indulgent to those who sin against you, knowing that you yourself often suffer from the same infirmity as your brother.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“As soon as condemnation comes into your head, immediately say with attention: ‘Lord grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother.’”
Saint Nektary of Optina
+
“If someone offends you, don’t tell anyone about it except your elder, and you will be peaceful. Bow to everyone, paying no attention whether they respond to your bow or not. You must humble yourself before everyone and consider yourself the worst of all. If we have not committed the sins that others have, perhaps this is because we did not have the opportunity – the situation and circumstances were different. In each person there is something good and something bad; we usually see only the vices in people and we see nothing that is good.”
Saint Ambrose of Optina
+
“If we must remember offenses, let us remember only our own. And if we remember our own sins, we shall never store up the sins of others.”
Saint John Chrysostom
+
“You should find faults with yourself, not with other people or things that you have not managed to deal with properly. This is the same way a child deals with fire or a sword: he burns himself and cuts himself.”
Saint Sebastian of Optina
+
“Remember this and you will no longer judge: Judas was an Apostle, and the thief crucified at Christ’s right hand was a murderer.”
Saint John Climacus
+
“If your heart has been softened either by repentance before God or by learning the boundless Love of God towards you, do not be proud with those whose hearts are still hard. Remember how long your heart was hard and incorrigible.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
+
On one occasion a brother committed sin in the Church, and the Priest drove him out therefrom, and there was there a man of discretion whose name was Bessarion, and he also arose and went out of the Church, and said, “If you have judged that this man who has committed only one offence is not fit to Worship God, how very much less fit am I, who have committed many sins, to do so?”
Saint Bessarion of Egypt
+
“A clear proof that a Soul has not yet cut loose from the corruption of sin is when it feels no sympathizing pity for the wrongdoing of others but holds instead to the strict censoriousness of a judge.”
Saint John Cassian
+
“Other people’s sins are not your business. Sit and cry for your sins!”
Saint Gabriel, the New Confessor of Georgia
+
“Do not lose your temper with those who sin. Do not have a passion for noticing every sin in your neighbour and judging it, as we usually do. Everyone will give an answer for himself before God… But correct your own sins, your own heart.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“Never look down on anyone. You do not know whether the Spirit of God prefers to dwell in you or in them.”
Saint Anthony the Great
+
“A hermit said, ‘Do not judge an adulterer if you are chaste or you will break the Law of God just as much as he does. For He Who said ‘Do not commit adultery’ also said ‘Do not judge.'”
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
+
“A man can know nothing about the judgments of God. He alone is the One Who takes account of all and is able to judge the hearts of each one of us, as He alone is our Master. Truly it happens that a man may do a certain thing which seems to be wrong out of simplicity, and there may be something about it which makes more amends to God than your whole life; how are you going to sit in judgment and constrict your own Soul? And should it happen that he has fallen away, how do you know how much and how well he fought; how much blood he sweated before he did it? Perhaps so little fault can be found in him that God can look on his action as if it were just, for God looks on his labor and all the struggle he had before he did it, and has pity on him. And do you know this, and what God has spared him for? Are you going to condemn him for this and ruin your own Soul? And how do you know what tears he has shed about it before God? You may well know about the sin but do you not know about the repentance?”
Saint Dorotheos of Gaza
+
“How to love the evil man? Hate the evil, but love those who do evil. Who knows maybe one day they will repent their sins by the powers of Prayer, tears and Confession and become like an Angel. Everything is God’s Will.”
Saint Gabriel of Georgia the Fool for Christ
+
“The door of repentance is open to all, and you do know who will enter it first – you, who are judging, or the one who is being judged by you.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
+
“Let’s force ourselves to put the guards to the lips so as not to say anything bad about anyone, because the worst speech is worse than any poisons. All wounds are healed, and the wound from the tongue has no healing.”
Saint Anthony the Great
+
“Slander is worse than cannibalism.”
Saint John Chrysostom
+
“If man seems to be silent, but his heart condemns others, then he is always speaking. There may be a man who talks all day long, but he is actually silent, because he says nothing unprofitable.”
Saint Poemen the Great
+
“You must not talk about persons who are absent.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
+
“Everywhere are people of God. You never know if the one you see today might tomorrow be a Saint.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
+
“It may be that a man seems to be silent, but if his heart judges others, then he is always speaking.”
Saint Poimen the Great
+
“It is worth noticing that, after acquiring Spiritual understanding, the defects and faults of one’s neighbour begin to seem very slight and insignificant, as redeemed by the Saviour and easily cured by repentance – those very faults and defects which seemed to the carnal understanding so big and serious. Evidently the carnal mind, being itself a plank, gives them this huge significance. The carnal mind sees in others sins that are not there at all.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
+
“Do not hurt your fellow man, neither in word or deed.”
Saint Raphael of Mytilene
+
“A good person, who loves God, does not rebuke people for their faults when they are present, nor does he slander them behind their backs.”
Saint Anthony the Great
+
“Yes, my brethren, because that hatred is the devil’s poison, and just as when we put a little yeast in a hundred pounds of flour it has such power that it causes all the dough to rise, so it is with hatred. It transforms all the good we have done into the devil’s poison.”
Saint Kosmas Aitolos
+
“If you say someting evil about your brother or sister, even if it is true, your Soul suffers an unhealable wound. You can reveal the sins of another only when the sole intention in your heart is the benefit of the Soul of the sinner.”
Saint Nikon of Optina
+
“Do not think about the sins of your brother, but about what in him is better than in yourself.”
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
+
“A good or bad word that we say about a person, even if said in the greatest secrecy, is felt by the whole universe and by the Creator of feelings.”
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich
+
“A tree, even with an axe, grows again, and the wound from the arrow is healed and overgrown. But the verbal arrow is incurable, because it hits the heart. Be silent and humble.”
Saint John of Damascus
+
“Avoid by every means occasions, causes and words that produce enmity, and avail yourself of every opportunity and occasion to show holy and sincere love.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“If you’ve got a problem with another person, that’s a Spiritual sickness. The only person we should have a problem with is ourself. You should never say to somebody: ‘You know, I have a problem with you.’”
Elder Joseph of Vatopedi
+
“Do not judge, God himself is the Judge. The one who condemns is like an empty stalk of wheat, which always has its head held high and which therefore always looks down on others.”
Saint Gabriel, the New Confessor of Georgia
+
“Every person is a Mystery. You cannot judge them through your logic.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
+
“If you see your neighbour in sin, don’t look only at this, but also think about what he has done or does that is good, and infrequently trying this in general, while not partialy judging, you will find that he is better than you.”
Saint Basil of Caesarea
+
“Find in your neighbour at least one good trait, a quality that you do not have, and by this positive line appreciate, love, admire, rejoice and perceive it. Don’t pay too much attention to the rest.”
Saint Ieronymos of Aegina
+
“The Christian has no reason to have in his heart any ill feeling whatever against anyone. Such ill feeling, like every other evil, is the work of the devil. The Christian must only have love in his heart. And as love cannot think of evil, he cannot have any ill feeling against others.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him: because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish reverie. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
+
“If you do not like somebody, think that you see Christ in that person. Then, you would not even dare utter a word of criticism.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
+
“Do not be hasty in judging people because of some event which happened by chance. Since, as you well know, everything is unstable and subject to change. Therefore, no man can safely judge someone’s entire character because of his fleeting moves or statements. Remember: it is not just man but nature itself and even time, which are subject to change.”
Elder Joseph of Vatopedi
+
“Evil men don’t exist. I have not yet met that type of person.”
Saint Gabriel, the New Confessor of Georgia
+
“If you are a witness of lies and theft, and you can not escape it, read the Prayer Our Father.”
Saint Gabriel, the New Confessor of Georgia
+
“We must love people and accept them in our hearts as God presents them to us. It has been thus ordained by the Lord Himself and by the Orthodox Tradition.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love