“Ruler over our passions are pious thoughts.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land!”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“The mind feeds the Soul, and whatever good or bad thing it sees or hears it passes on to the heart, which is the centre of the Spiritual and physical powers of man.”
Saint Joseph the Hesychast
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“It is impossible to keep Spiritual peace if we do not take care of the mind, that is if we do not drive out thoughts that are displeasing to God and, on the contrary, keep thoughts which are pleasing to God. It is necessary to look into the heart with mind and see what is done there. Is it peaceful or not? If not, then find out in what you have sinned.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“The passions are uprooted and turned to flight by constant occupation of the mind with God. This is a sword that puts them to death: Whoever always thinks about God drives the demons away from himself and pulls up the seeds of their malice.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“Be careful. Watch out for your Soul! Turn your thoughts away from what will soon pass away and turn them towards what is Eternal. Here you will find the happiness that your Soul seeks, what your heart thirsts for.”
Saint John Maximovitch
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“Today I would like to speak in more detail. Sin is every thought that doesn’t correspond to the spirit of the Evangelical Commandments. And we have to get away from it. But how can we get away? When the work of a certain thought manifests in us, then we cry out: “Lord, heal my mind! Lord, heal my heart! Lord, heal me whole! You see how painful is when the thought, which doesn’t even make sense, torments me like a slave. I pray You, protect me! You know that I have no other desire than to live according to Your Commandments. Your Commandment is the highest law of my whole being: both temporary and eternal. You inspired me to love Your Commandments. You gave me Your Light, in order to see the beauty of the Divine Life. And now, save me from the power of passionate lust!” This is how we can begin the conversation with God, against the passions. Sometimes it can be a monologue, other times it takes the form of a dialogue. An example of one of the rarest dialogues in the life of the Universal Church is found in Saint Silouan [the Athonite]: When he was overwhelmed by the attacks of the enemies, with all the power of his Soul, wanting to Pray with a clear mind, he said to Christ: “You see that I wish to Pray to You, but the enemies won’t let me.” The Lord answered: “The proud always suffer like this.” And then – dialogue: “Lord, teach me how to humble myself!” And the answer, gentle, but truly tragic, and more than tragic: “Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not!” And this refers to the knowledge of how we can spend our day or night without sin. Every human passion, because it belongs to the created world, has its form, image and energy. The high mind guides us, helped by the Grace, in the unseen war with the enemy, and thus, through such a Prayer – monologue or dialogue – we get out of the conversation with the enemy and we enter into conversation with God Himself. It is this transition from conversation with the enemy to conversation with God which is important! And if we keep talking to God, then, of course, God becomes the content of our lives. And He Himself, through Himself, is the Eternal Life, which never diminishes. And no matter what passion we struggle with, whether it be with bodily passion, either with the love of money, or with the love of power, or with the love of comfort, and so on – no matter, the principle remains essentially the same: Do not surrender your mind to the enemy!”
Saint Sophrony of Essex
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“Prayer saves man from sin, for a Praying mind is busy with God and stands in humility before the Lord, whom the Soul recognizes.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Each person, in their thoughts, must engage in the struggle against evil so that Christ may shine in the heart.”
Saint Makarios the Great of Egypt
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“The mind that is occupied with the thought of God has little room for other thoughts, especially evil ones.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“Do not believe, that inner thoughts can be controlled without the control of the body. Fear bad habits more than devils.”
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov
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“When the body sins through material things, it has the bodily virtues to teach it self-restraint. Similarly, when the intellect sins through impassioned conceptual images, it has the virtues of the Soul to instruct it, so that by seeing things in a pure and dispassionate way, it too may learn self-restraint.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“Cleanse your mind from anger, remembrance of evil, and shameful thoughts, and then you will find out how Christ dwells in you.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“When passions dominate the intellect, they separate it from God, binding it to material things and preoccupying it with them. But when love of God dominates the intellect, it frees it from its bonds, persuading it to rise above not only sensible things but even this transitory life.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“Every lying thought bears in itself a proof of its falsehood. This proof is its deadly effect upon the heart; ‘for to be carnally minded is death’. Likewise every true thought contains in itself a proof of its truth. This profit is its vivifying effect upon the heart; ‘but to be Spiritually minded is life and peace’, says the Apostle.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“The bodies of irrational animals are bent toward the ground, whereas man was made to walk erect with his eyes on Heaven, as though to remind him to keep his thoughts on things above.”
Saint Augustine of Hippo
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“Sweeten your thoughts with words of consolation and hope. Warm your words with the warmth of your love towards your Bridegroom and remember His Passion, which He underwent for you, so that you would remain firm, devoted and humble.”
Saint Amphilochios Makris of Patmos
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“A weak person especially ought to pay attention to the promptings of his conscience, so that he may free his Soul from all condemnation. Otherwise at the end of his life he may repent in vain and mourn eternally. The person who cannot endure for Christ’s sake a physical death as Christ did, should at least be willing to endure death Spiritually. Then he will be a Martyr with respect to his conscience, in that he does not submit to the demons that assail him, or to their purposes, but conquers them, as did the Holy Martyrs and the Holy Fathers. The first were bodily Martyrs, the latter Spiritual Martyrs. By forcing oneself slightly, one defeats the enemy; through slight negligence one is filled with darkness and destroyed.”
Saint Peter of Damascus
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“The cause of all our sufferings lays in our thoughts.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“The roots of evil thoughts are the obvious vices, which we keep trying to justify in our words and actions.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“When a thought lingers within a man, this indicates his attachment to it; but when it is quickly destroyed, this signifies his opposition and hostility to it.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“The roots of evil thoughts are the obvious vices, which we keep trying to justify in our words and actions.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Never belittle the significance of your thoughts, for not one escapes God’s notice.”
Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Blasphemous thoughts must be opposed with contempt. Only in this way do they disappear. Blasphemous thoughts are inspired by the devil they are not ours. Here we can affirm that the Lord’s word has validity: “You cannot serve God and mammon”, (Matt. 6:24) that is, the nous cannot do two things simultaneously. It cannot be enchanted by the sweetest nectar of the Jesus Prayer on the one hand and the other hand, while it is Praying, doubt the power of Prayer or Dogmatic Truths. The latter is the attack of the devil. Contempt then is needed and if the blasphemous thought continually attacks us, it needs Confession to the Spiritual Father. Then it disappears immediately. Moreover, the same happens with persistent thoughts. A thought that persists, especially during Prayer, needs to be Confessed. Thus the devil who hides under it immediately disappears, like the snake when we lift the stone… The athlete of Prayer must not let himself be shaken. He must oppose imagination with the continuous invocation of the Name of Jesus, and he must be concentrated on the words of the Jesus Prayer. He must stand bravely in the conciseness of the Jesus Prayer. He must not think of anything during Prayer, either of wrong or even good works… Many times the devil, appears and talks to the athlete of Prayer. He challenges him and tries to open a dialogue with him. Sometimes he blames the athlete, sometimes he praises him, sometimes he scoffs at him, and sometimes he interprets certain acts wrongly. The inexperienced in this Spiritual contest start talking with the devil and answering his questions and his assaults. However, this is an error, especially for the beginners, because the inexperienced in these situations are defeated even if it seems that the devil was put to flight by their replies. Confusion and fear remain. And later, when they recall this scene and all that was said, they will be shaken and troubled. The Fathers recommend that those who do not have the experience and the necessary strength should not answer. They must be indifferent to the devil and despise him. They must do the same in the war against their thoughts. Thus contempt against the devil and perseverance in Jesus’ Prayer is needed…”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
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“You ask if sins of the mind are dangerous? As a Monk you know this best. You know that one of the Holy Fathers has said that the essence of Monasticism is the cleansing of the mind of evil thoughts. You also know that the Church lists three types of sin: in deed, in word, in thought…. Evil thoughts are the seed of every evil. From that seed sprout sinful words, sinful desires and sinful deeds. Remember Christ’s second parable about the sower (the wheat and the tares)… So therefore, keep watch over yourself. Close your eyes more often and, as Saint Nikitas Stithatos said, “examine the thoughts sailing on the sea of the mind””
Saint Nikolai Velimivoric
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“There is a warfare where evil spirits secretly battle with the Soul by means of thoughts.”
Saint Philothes of Sinai
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When asked how to get rid of persistent evil thoughts, the Saint replied:
“This is like a man who has fire on his left side, and a vessel full of water on his right side. If he starts burning from the fire, he takes water from the vessel and extinguishes the fire. The fire represents the evil thoughts placed in the heart of man by the Enemy of our salvation, which can enkindle sinful desires within man like a spark in a hut. The water is the force of Prayer which impels a man toward God.”
Saint Poemen the Great
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“When you get bitter and annoyed, even if only in thought, you ruin the spiritual atmosphere. You stop the Holy Spirit from working and you allow the devil to increase evil. You should always Pray, love and forgive, rejecting each and every bad thought within you.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“May Thy Light shine in my thoughts; may they be illumined by Thy rays, and may Thy magnificent radiance gladden them, for Thou art the sun that irradiates all.”
Saint Ephrem the Syrian
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“When thoughts are choking me like so many thorns, I enter the Church, the hospital of Souls. The beauty of the Icons delight my vision like a verdant meadow, and without my noticing it stirs my Soul to praise God.”
Saint John of Damascus
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“We must not only put bodily passions to death but also destroy the Soul’s impassioned thoughts. Hence the Psalmist says, ‘Early in the morning I destroyed all the wicked of the earth, that I might cut off all evil-doers from the city of the Lord’ (Ps. 101:8) – that is, the passions of the body and the Soul’s godless thoughts.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“At first a simple thought about evil makes it into the mind, and if it is kept in the mind, then a passionate motion arises from it, and if you do not extirpate the passion, then it inclines the mind to agreement, and when this happens, it leads the mind to the commission of a sinful deed. [Guard your thoughts], for if you do not sin in thought, you will never sin in deed.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“An old man said, We are not condemned because of our thoughts that enter us, but because we use our thoughts badly; our thoughts can cause us either to suffer shipwreck or to be crowned.”
Saint Poemen the Great
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“When you perceive an evil thought, rebut it and immediately call upon Christ to defend you; and while you are still speaking, Jesus in His gentle love will say: ‘Behold, I am by your side ready to help you.'”
Saint Philotheos of Sinai
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“Continue along your path. The devil will come with his tempting thoughts and will tug at your sleeve, so as to disorient you. Don’t turn to him, don’t start a conversation with him, and don’t oppose him. In this way the devil will get bored and will leave you alone.”
Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
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“Refuse to listen to the devil when he whispers to you: give me now, and you will give tomorrow to God. No, no! Spend all the hours of your life in a way pleasing to God.”
Saint Nikodemos of Mount Athos
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“When bad thoughts are planted in you, then cry to God: ‘Lord, my Maker and Creator. You see that my soul is in agony from bad thoughts. Have mercy on me.’ Teach yourself to root out bad thoughts immediately. But when you forget and don’t root them out immediately, then offer repentance. Work on this, so that you get a habit.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“We do well if we don’t comply with sinful thoughts, which come from the devil. Because the evil spirit is able to exercise effective influence only over impassioned people. If you’re without passions, he can try to get at you only from afar.”
Saint Seraphim of Sarov
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“It does not lie within our power to decide wether or not the passions are going to harass and attack the Soul. But it does lie within our power to prevent impassioned thoughts from lingering within us and arousing the passions to action.”
Saint Theodoros the Great Ascetic
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“One of the ancients spoke wisely and simply about thoughts. Judge thoughts, he said, before the judgement seat of the heart, to discern whether they are ours or those of our enemy. Place those which are good and properly our own in the inmost shrine of the Soul, keeping them in this inviolable treasury. But chastise hostile thoughts with the whip of the intelligence and banish them, giving them no place, no abode within the bounds of your Soul. Or, to speak more fittingly, slay them completely with the sword of Prayer and Divine meditation, so that when the robbers have been destroyed, their chief may take flight. For, so he says, a man who examines his thoughts strictly is one who also truly loves the Commandments.”
Saint Theodoros the Great Ascetic
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“It is one thing to be delivered from bad thoughts, and another to be freed from the passions. Often people are delivered from thoughts, when they do not have before their eyes those things which produce passion. But the passions for them remain hidden in the Soul, and when the things appear again the passions are revealed. Therefore it is necessary to guard the mind when these things appear, and to know toward which things you have a passion.”
Saint Maximus the Confessor
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“Sensitive people must be very careful of self-accusation, because the devil tries to convert it into despair (through hypersensitivity). Self-accusation must always be accompanied by hope in God. When someone feels anxiety in this case, he must realize that the evil one has his tail in it.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“Understand two thoughts, and fear them. One says, “You are a Saint,” the other, “You won’t be Saved.” Both of these thoughts are from the enemy, and there is no truth in them. But think this way: I am a great sinner, but the Lord is Merciful. He loves people very much, and He will forgive my sins.”
Saint Silouan the Athonite
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“Sinful thoughts continually disturb a man. But if he does not cooperate with them, then he is not guilty of them.”
Saint Ambrose of Optina
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“There are three traps of Satan that steal joy and peace: Regretting about the past, fear for the future, and ingratitude for the present.”
Saint Anthony the Great
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“Watchfulness over thoughts prevents demonic entry.”
Saint Hesychios of Jerusalem
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“The Lord always knocks at the door of our heart, but the devil knocks at the door of our mind.”
Saint Paisios the Athonite
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“When you intend doing a God-pleasing deed and a contrary thought opposes it, this lets you know that the intended act is truly pleasing to God. Pray and observe, whether during Prayer your heart corroborates the goodness and this goodness grows and does not lessen, and accordingly, whether the opposing thought increases or not. Know that every good deed definitely has bitter opposition from the devil’s jealousy, while a good deed through Prayer gains ascendancy over it. If an ostensibly good deed is implanted by the devil and then be opposed by him, – then Prayer will weaken this illusory good deed, together with its illusory opposition. In this instance, it is apparent that the reason why the devil opposes the thought he himself had implanted, is to beguile us into accepting his concept as good.”
Saint Barsanuphius the Great Elder of Gaza and Saint John the Prophet
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“When in thinking about something, you see confusion in your thoughts, and after calling upon God this confusion remains – even slightly – then know that what you are thinking of doing has been motivated by the deceiver. Then, under no circumstances are you to do this – because nothing is pleasing to God that is done with confusion. In a situation where there are opposing thoughts to this type of confusion, then there is no need to immediately regard the matter as evil. Examine the subject, is it good or evil – if evil, then leave it and if it’s good, carry it out and reject the confusion.”
Saint Barsanuphius the Great Elder of Gaza and Saint John the Prophet
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“To the question on whether we should argue with thoughts that perturb us, I will answer: Don’t argue, because the enemies precisely want this to happen, and seeing our altercation will not cease their attack. It is better if you Prayed to the Lord, opening your feebleness before Him, and He will not only drive out these thoughts but will eradicate them completely.”
Saint Barsanuphius the Great Elder of Gaza and Saint John the Prophet
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“It is known that the thoughts are led from the mind into the heart and disturb it. The troubled mind also troubles the heart. Just as the wind raises the waves of the sea, so the wind of thoughts raises waves in the Soul. That is why the Fathers talk about Prayer in combination with watchfulness. Watchfulness keeps the nous in constant alertness and readiness and Prayer brings the Divine Grace.”
Saint Ephraim of Katounakia
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“Every lying thought bears in itself a proof of its falsehood. This proof is its deadly effect upon the heart; ‘for to be carnally minded is death’. Likewise every true thought contains in itself a proof of its truth. This profit is its vivifying effect upon the heart; ‘but to be Spiritually minded is life and peace’, says the Apostle.”
Saint John of Kronstadt
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“If a person does not argue with the thoughts that the enemy secretly sows in us, but by Prayer to God uproots conversation with them, this is a sign that his mind has attained wisdom, and that he has found a short path.”
Saint Isaac the Syrian
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“By the purity of our thoughts we can see everyone as Holy and good. When we see them as fools, this comes from our frame of mind.”
Saint Macarius of Optina
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The old man was asked, ‘What should a man do in all the temptations and evil thoughts that come upon him?’ The old man said to him, ‘He should weep and implore the Goodness of God to come to his aid, and he will obtain peace if he Prays with discernment. For it is written, “With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can man do to me?”‘ (Ps. 118:6)
Saint Moses the Ethiopian
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