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Thread: Humility

  1. #61
    You do not just suddenly leap into heaven, but you enter it with humility. The worst of all sins is when we are overwhelmed by our pride and our own opinion about everything.

    - St. Macarius of Optina
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ



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  3. #62
    “A great man is always willing to be little.”
    ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

    sorry if posted already

    What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?
    A box of rain will ease the pain, and love will see you through.
    Box of Rain, Grateful Dead




    Quote Originally Posted by PaulConventionWV
    A real feminist would have avoided men altogether and found a perfectly good female partner. Because, y'know, all sexual intercourse is actually rape.
    निर्विकल्पा
    aka Wicked Heathen
    I was a nasty woman before Trump made it cool.

  4. #63
    If the soul is vigilant and withdraws from all distraction and abandons its own will, then the spirit of God invades it and it can conceive because it is free to do so.

    -St. Theophan the Recluse
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  5. #64
    Never allow yourself boldly to judge your neighbor; judge and condemn no one…rather have compassion and pity for him, but let his example be a lesson in humility to you; realizing that you too are extremely weak and as easily moved to sin as dust on the road, say to yourself: ‘He fell today, but tomorrow I shall fall.’

    - St. Efraim the Syrian
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ



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  7. #65
    Whatever you may be seeking, seek it with all your strength, but do not expect your own search and efforts to bear fruit of themselves. Put your trust in the Lord, ascribing nothing to yourself, and He will give you your heart’s desire.

    - St. Theophan the Recluse
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  8. #66
    The soul that really loves God and Christ, though it may do ten thousand righteousnesses, esteems itself as having wrought nothing, by reason of its insatiable aspiration after God. Though it should exhaust the body with fastings and with watchings, its attitude towards the virtues is as if it had not yet even begun to labour for them.

    - Saint Macarius the Great
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  9. #67
    All Saints through humility were elevated, honored, glorified, made wondrous and sanctified by God. If you take away humility no one would be a Saint.

    - Elder Joseph of Mount Athos
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  10. #68
    Inner and real humility is for one to feel, that whatever he has, life, health, wealth, wisdom all are foreign, are gifts of God.

    - Elder Joseph of Mount Athos
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  11. #69
    The only hope of salvation from the delusions and the heresies, the innovations and the traps of wicked people and of the devil is prayer, repentance and humility.

    - Elder Joseph of Mount Athos
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  12. #70
    Paul writes, 'I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this' (1 Cor. 4:4). You see he does not exalt himself, but humbles and abases himself in every way, and that just when he had reached the summit. And the Three Children were in the fire, in the midst of the furnace, and what did they say? 'For we have sinned and transgressed by departing from You; and we have done evil in every way' (Dan. 3:29). This is what it is to have a contrite heart.

    - St. John Chrysostom
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  13. #71
    If the grace of God comes, everyone and everything changes; however, in order for it to come, we must humble ourselves first.

    - Elder Porphyrios
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  14. #72
    'Know thyself': this is true humility, the humility that teaches us to be inwardly humble and makes our heart contrite. Such humility you must cultivate and guard. For if you do not yet know yourself you cannot know what humility is, and have not yet embarked truly on the task of cultivating and guarding. To know oneself is the goal of the practice of the virtues.

    - Nikitas Stithatos
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ



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  16. #73
    ...the more a man is found worthy to receive God's gifts, the more he ought to consider himself a debtor to God, who has raised him from the earth and bestowed on dust the privilege of imitating to some degree its Creator and God. For to endure injustice with joy, patiently to do good to one's enemies, to lay down one's own life for one's neighbor, and so on, are gifts from God, bestowed on those who are resolved to receive them from Him through their solicitude in cultivating and protecting what has been entrusted to them, as Adam was commanded to do (cf. Gen. 2:15).

    - St. Peter of Damascus
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  17. #74
    ...true humility does not say humble words, nor does it assume humble looks, it does not force oneself either to think humbly of oneself, or to abuse oneself in self-belittlement. Although all such things are the beginning, the manifestations and the various aspects of humility, humility itself is grace, given from above. There are two kinds of humility, as the holy fathers teach: to deem oneself the lowest of all beings and to ascribe to God all one's good actions. The first is the beginning, the second the end.

    - St. Gregory of Sinai
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  18. #75
    Quote Originally Posted by TER View Post
    If the grace of God comes, everyone and everything changes; however, in order for it to come, we must humble ourselves first. - Elder Porphyrios


    If one could humble themselves before God before he had the grace of God, why would anyone need the grace of God to be humble at all?

  19. #76
    .we have never achieved anything good on our own, but all good things are ours from God by grace, and come as it were from nothingness into being. For 'what do you have which you did not receive?' asks St. Paul - receive, that is, freely from God; 'and if you received it, why do you boast as if you had not received it' (I Cor. 4:7), but had achieved it by yourself? Yet by yourself you cannot achieve anything, for the Lord has said: 'Without Me, you can do nothing' (John 15:5).

    - St. Peter of Damascus
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  20. #77
    A brother questioned Abba Poemen saying, "Give me a word." And he said to him, "The fathers put compunction as the beginning of every action." The brother said again, "Give me another word." The old man replied, "As far as you can, do some manual work so as to be able to give alms, for it is written that alms and faith purify from sin." The brother said, "What is faith?" The old man said, "Faith is to live humbly and to give alms."

    - The Desert Fathers
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  21. #78
    A person who suffers bitterly when slighted or insulted should recognize from this that he still harbors the ancient serpent in his breast. If he quietly endures the insult or responds with great humility, he weakens the serpent and lessens its hold. But if he replies acrimoniously or brazenly, he gives it strength to pour its venom into his heart and to feed mercilessly on his guts. In this way the serpent becomes increasingly powerful; it destroys his soul's strength and his attempts to set himself right, compelling him to live for sin and to be completely dead to righteousness.

    - St. Symeon the New Theologian
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  22. #79
    Abba Anthony said, "I saw the snares the the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can escape from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."

    - St. Anthony the Great
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  23. #80
    An Athonite elder said, "Humility acts like a magnet, drawing to it the grace of God. The humble are granted grace. These things are arranged.

    - An Athonite Gerontikon
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ



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  25. #81
    An old man was asked, "What is humility?" and he said in reply, "Humility is a great work, and a work of God. The way of humility is to undertake bodily labor and believe yourself a sinner and make yourself subject to all." Then a brother said, "What does it mean, to be subject to all?" The old man answered, "To be subject to all is not to give your attention to the sins of others but always to give your attention to your own sins and to pray without ceasing to God."

    - The Desert Fathers
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    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  26. #82
    An old man was asked, 'How can I find God?' He said, 'In fasting, in watching, in labors, in devotion, and, above all, in discernment. I tell you, many have injured their bodies without discernment and have gone away from us having achieved nothing. Our mouths smell bad through fasting, we know the Scriptures by heart, we recite all the Psalms of David, but we have not that which God seeks: charity and humility.'

    - The Desert Fathers
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  27. #83
    As with the appearance of light, darkness retreats; so, at the fragrance of humility, all anger and bitterness vanishes.

    - St. John Climacus
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  28. #84
    But when the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of a person, He shows him all his inner poverty and weakness, and the corruption of his heart and soul, and his separation from God; and with all his virtues and righteousness. He shows him his sins, his sloth and indifference regarding the salvation and good of people his self-seeking in his apparently most disinterested virtues, his coarse selfishness even where he does not suspect it. To be brief, the Holy Spirit shows him everything as it really is. Then a person begins to have true humility, begins to lose hope in his own powers and virtues, regards himself as the worst of men. And when a person humbles himself before Jesus Christ Who alone is Holy in the glory of God the Father, he begins to repent truly, and resolves never again to sin but to live more carefully. And if he really has some virtues, then he sees clearly that he practiced and practices them only with the help of God, and therefore he begins to put his trust only in God.

    - St. Innocent of Alaska
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  29. #85
    Consciously look on yourself as an ant or a worm, so that you can become a man formed by God. If you fail to do the first, the second cannot happen. The lower you descend, the higher you ascend; and when, like the psalmist, you regard yourself as nothing before the Lord (cf. Ps. 39:5), then imperceptibly you will grow great. And when you begin to realize that you have nothing and know nothing, then you will become rich in the Lord through practice of the virtues and spiritual knowledge

    - St. Theognostos
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  30. #86
    Consider well, brethren, how great is the power of humility. Consider how great is the spiritual energy behind saying, `Pardon me.' Why is the devil called not only `enemy,' but also `adversary'? He is called `enemy' because he is a hater of man, one who hates what is good, a traitor; and `adversary,' because he always puts obstacles in the way of good. If someone wants to pray he puts obstacles in the way through evil suspicions, shameful thoughts, and spiritual torpor. If a man wants to give alms he obstructs it through avarice or procrastination. If a man wants to keep vigil he obstructs it with hesitations or laziness. In every single thing he is against us when we desire to do good. This is why he is called the enemy and the adversary and why, by lowliness, all his attacks and devices are brought to nothing.

    - St. Dorotheos of Gaza
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  31. #87
    God descends to the humble as waters flow down from the hills into the valleys.

    - St. John of Kronstadt
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  32. #88
    I know a man who kept no long strict fasts, no vigils, did not sleep on bare earth, imposed on himself no other specially arduous tasks; but, recollecting in memory his sins, understood his worthlessness and, having judged himself, became humble - and for this alone the most compassionate Lord saved him; as the divine David says: 'The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit' (Ps. 34:18). In short, he trusted the words of the Lord and for his faith the Lord received him.

    - St. Simeon the New Theologian
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ



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  34. #89
    In answer to your question as to what constitutes a happy life, whether splendor, fame and wealth, or a quiet, peaceful, family life, I will say that I agree with the latter, but will add the following: A life lived in humility and with an irreproachable conscience brings peace, tranquility, and true happiness. But wealth, honor, glory and exalted position often serve as the cause of a multitude of sins, and such happiness is not one on which to rely.

    - Venerable St. Makary
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

  35. #90
    It is one thing to be humble, another to strive for humility, and another to praise the humble. The first belongs to the perfect, the second to the truly obedient, and the third to all the faithful.

    - St. John Climacus
    +
    'These things I command you, that you love one another.' - Jesus Christ

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