Bernard of Clairvaux ( 1090 -1153 )

 

Bernard of Clairvaux Speaks to This Moment

"There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is Curiosity.
There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is Vanity.
There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.” 

" Many of those who are humiliated are not humble. Some react to humiliation with anger, others with patience, and others with freedom. The first are culpable, the next harmless, the last just.” 

"Vines and trees will teach you that which you will never learn from masters.”  

 'What we love we shall grow to resemble.” 

 “If you concentrate hard on the state you are in, it would be suprising if you have time for anything else. ” 

 "What I know of the divine sciences and the Holy Scriptures, I have learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.” 

“Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.”
 
 ― Bernard of Clairvaux