“Expect temptation to your last breath.”
Saint Anthony the Great
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“May God defend us from the evil one and from his designs, for fierce is his struggle against us.”
Saint Mary of Egypt
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“Man wants his freedom. Why? So that he may be a slave to his own passions.”
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love
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“If you cannot labour with your body, at least make efforts in your mind. If you cannot fast for two days, fast at least till evening; if you cannot fast till evening, be careful not to overeat. If you are not a peacemaker, at least do not be addicted to strife. If you cannot close the mouth of a man who is judging his brother, at least refrain from joining him in this.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Blessed is the man who knows his weakness. This knowledge becomes for him the foundation and the beginning of his coming unto all good and beautiful things.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Some passions are bodily, others spiritual. Bodily passions have their sources in the body, while spiritual ones come from external things. But love and temperance cut out both the one and the other: Love cuts out spiritual passions, and temperance bodily ones.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“You should know which of the passions torments you the most, and you should especially struggle against it. To achieve this, you must examine your conscience daily.”
Saint Nikon of Optina
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“One evil reinforces another; likewise, good things also increase because of each other and urge the person who shares in them on to better things.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Hell can’t be made attractive, so the devil makes attractive the road that leads there.”
Saint Basil the Great
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“These eight passions should be destroyed as follows: Gluttony by self-control; unchastity by desire for God and longing for the blessings held in store; avarice by compassion for the poor; anger by goodwill and love for all men; worldly dejection by Spiritual joy; listlessness by patience, perseverance and offering thanks to God; self-esteem by doing good in secret and by Praying constantly with a contrite heart; and pride by not judging or despising anyone in the manner of the boastful Pharisee (cf. Luke 18: 11-12), and by considering oneself the least of all men. When the intellect has been freed in this way from the passions we have described and been raised up to God, it will henceforth live the life of blessedness, receiving the pledge of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 1 : 22). And when it departs this life, dispassionate and full of true knowledge, it will stand before the Light of the Holy Trinity and with the Divine Angels will shine in Glory through all Eternity.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“The arena, the field of battle, the site where the fight actually takes place is our own heart and all our inner man. The time of battle is our whole life.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“When a man is given over to the passions, he does not see them in himself and does not fight against them, because he lives in them and by them. But when the Grace of God becomes active in him, he begins to discern the passionate and sinful in himself, acknowledge them, and to repent and decide to guard against them. A struggle begins. At first, the struggle begins with deeds, but when is released from shameful deeds, then the struggle begins with shameful thoughts and feelings. And here the struggle encounters many steps… The struggle continues. The passions increasingly are torn out of the heart. It even happens that they are entirely torn out… The sign that the passions are torn out of the heart is that the Soul begins to feel repulsion and hatred for the passions.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“The beginning of the path toward pure Prayer is the battle against the passions. It is impossible to progress in Prayer as long as the passions still exist. In spite of this, the presence of the Grace of Prayer is not blocked as long as one is not careless or proud.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“Every day you should try to plant in your Soul something Spiritual which will eject something worldly and sinful. Gradually, the old self will be disclaimed, and you will be able to move freely in the Spiritual realm. Replace the sinful images in your mind with Holy ones. Replace songs with Hymns, worldly magazines with Spiritual books.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“He who refuses to give in to his passions does the same as he who refuses to bow down and worship idols.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“Selfishness is the root of all the passions.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“The path of God is a daily cross.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“So my child, have you thrown away all your weapons just because of one disobedience? Are you giving up the fight because of the words of one demon? And when have you ever seen a real winter? When have you ever seen snowstorms? When have you ever seen battalions and regiments of demons intimidating you? Were you frightened by the threats of one demon? But you should never believe things he tells you, because he has always been a liar, and he has no power against us, unless we have ignorance due to our pride. They only threaten and intimidate us, but they cannot do anything. For if they did not even have the power to enter into the swine, how will they harm us without the Lord’s permission? So learn to think humbly, and do not fear the words of a possessed person at all. We have the clear testimony of Our Lord: as soon as the demon said ‘I know Thee Who Thou art,’ the Lord silenced him, even though he said the truth, to give us an example so that we would not listen to the words of the possessed, no matter how truthful they may seem, because the demon speaks through the mouth of that person. Now he might be saying the truth, but later he will lie again, because he has been a liar since the beginning and he never remains truthful. And if a person lets himself believe these words, he will soon become the mock and laughing-stock of the demons.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“What does my experience tell me when I am the prisoner of sin? I am tormented sometimes the whole day, and cannot turn to God with my whole heart, because sin hardens my heart, making God’s mercy inaccessible to me. I burn in the fire, and willingly remain in it, because sin has bound my powers, and I – like one inwardly chained – am unable to turn to God until He, seeing my helplessness, my humility, and my tears, takes pity on me and bestows His Grace upon me.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“We should not oppose the evil one with words, because opposition increases evil. As Abba Dorotheos says, the good swimmer passes under the wave.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“He who hates the passions gets rid of their causes. But he who is attracted by their causes is attacked by the passions even though he does not wish it.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Why do the demons wish to excite in us gluttony, fornication, greed, anger, rancour and other passions? So that the mind, under their weight, should be unable to Pray as it ought.”
Saint Nilus of Sinai
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“The one who realises his mistake, has already progressed halfway. However, it is also very important for him to sense his weakness. It is much better to be aware of our own weakness, than to struggle very hard, while neglecting it.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“When you are being tested by trials and temptations, you cannot avoid feeling dejected. But those who till the Earth of hardship and tribulation in their hearts are afterwards filled with great joy, tears of consolation and Holy thoughts.”
Saint John of Karpathos
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“Since you are under the law of obedience do not be afraid of temptation. What will they do to you? They only throw droplets and spit at you! Do not be frightened. You will neither rescind your vows nor will you abdicate.”
Elder Joseph of Vatopedi
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“Be patient with your own passions and be patient with mine. Then you’ll become a Saint.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
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“Do not sin with the expectation that there is time to repent. Do not fall into sin with the confidence of forgiveness! Remember that death will not delay. God is not mocked.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“We avoid the eyes of men and in God’s presence we commit sin. We know God to be the judge of all, and yet in His sight we sin.”
Saint Ambrose of Optina
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“Life is a Spiritual warfare. If you’re not fighting, you’re losing.”
Saint Cosmas of Aitolia
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“There is no Saint without a past, no sinner without a future.”
Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo
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“The passion of worldly sorrow is a great passion that preoccupies people today. Unfortunately we retain sorrow within us and we caress it until it kills us. One must fight against the passion of sorrow and cure it.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“A brother asked Abba Poemen, saying, ‘For what purpose were spoken the words, ‘Take no thought for the morrow?’ (Mat 6:34) The old man said unto him, ‘For the man who is under temptation, and is in affliction; for it is not right that such a man should take thought for the morrow, or should say, ‘How long shall I have to endure this temptation’, but he should think upon patient endurance, saying: ‘It is today, and the temptation will not remain thus for a long time.’”
Saint Poemen the Great
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“Nothing so helps one flee from sin as remembrance of death.”
Saint Pachomios of Chios
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“We must have the determination to overcome temptations comparable to the sorrows of the first Christians. All the witnesses of Christ’s Resurrection were Martyred. We should be ready to endure any hardship.”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Amma Theodora said: A certain Monk, afflicted by many sorrows, said to himself, “Leave this place.” With these words he began to put his sandals on his feet, and suddenly he saw the devil in the form of a man sitting in the corner of his cell. The devil was also putting on his sandals. He said to the Monk, “Are you leaving here because of me? Well then, wherever you go, I will be there before you.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“A Christian man has a twofold warfare set before him, an inward and an outward, the latter, in withdrawing from Earthly distractions; the former, in the heart against the suggestions of the spirits of wickedness.”
Saint Makarios the Great of Egypt
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“Don’t become angry or shocked when you see in yourself the working of some passion. When a passion rises up in you, fight against it, trying to rein it in and root it out with humility and Prayer.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“Sins are like walnuts, you split the shell, and it’s hard to dig out the grain.”
Saint Ambrose of Optina
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“When the intellect begins to advance in love for God, the demon of blasphemy starts to tempt it, suggesting thoughts such as no man but only the devil, their father, could invent. He does this out of envy, so that the man of God, in his despair at thinking such thoughts, no longer dares to soar up to God in his accustomed Prayer. But the demon does not further his own ends by this means. On the contrary, he makes us more steadfast. For through his attacks and our retaliation we grow more experienced and genuine in our love for God. May his sword enter into his own heart and may his bows be broken (cf. Ps. 37:15).”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“Sin is a blazing fire. The less fuel you give it, the faster it dies down; the more you feed it, the more it burns.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Destroy your wild lusts and passions, you will gratify God more, and you will work for Him more magnificently than if you scourge yourself until you issue blood or tire yourself out with fasting more than any elderly desert Hermit. For even if you redeem hundreds of Christian slaves from the unbelievers and liberate them, it will not save you, if you continue to be a slave to your passions. And no matter what work you perform, however wonderful, and with whatever labor and sacrifice you might achieve it, it will not guide you toward your goal, if you do not pay attention to your passions, allowing them the liberty to live and work in you.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“He who struggles against his passions is greater than he who conquers cities.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Sin is looking for the right thing in the wrong place.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“Man should have only one fear – it is the fear of sin.”
Saint Gabriel, the New Confessor of Georgia
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“The three great giants of the passions, as the Fathers call them, are love of pleasure, avarice and ambition. If these take hold of us, they beget another three, which are worthy of them: inattentiveness, forgetfulness and ignorance, which destroy our Spiritual powers and our mind.”
Elder Joseph of Vatopedi
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“The passions are like wild beasts. If you feed them, they grow strong. If you starve them they grow weak”
Saint Nicodemus of Mount Athos
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“If [the disease of sin] is natural, then it cannot be cured. Thus it would remain always, no matter how hard you worked to rid yourself of it. If you accept this thought, you will lose heart, and say to yourself: this is how it is. For this is that woeful despair, which, once it has been introduced into people, they have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness (Ephesians 4: 19). I shall repeat again: Maintain the conviction that our disorderliness is not natural to us, and do not listen to those who say, ‘It is no use talking about it, because that is just how we are made, and you cannot do anything about it! That is not how we are made, and if we undertake to cure ourselves, then we will be able to do something about it.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
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“If we weave by day and undo at night, nothing gets woven. If we build by day and destroy by night, nothing is ever built. If we Pray to God and do evil before Him, then nothing is woven, and a house for our Soul is not built.”
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric