Bernard of Clairvaux Quotes

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

If you have only a glass of water, then one person can drink. If you have a bucket, a whole family can benefit.

Above all, you must fight conceit, envy, and every kind of ill-feeling in your heart.

Kill not the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The sharpest sword is a word spoken in wrath; the deadliest poison is covetousness ;, the fiercest fire is hatred, ;, the darkest night is ignorance. The greatest gain is to give to others ;, the greatest loss is to greedily receive without gratitude ;, an invulnerable armor is patience ;, the best weapon is wisdom.

Behold! I am weary of my wisdom, like the bee that has gathered too much honey; I need hands outstretched to take it from me. I wish to spread it and bestow it, until the wise have once more become joyous in their folly, and the poor happy in their riches.

The best thing to do with water is to use a lot of it.

The growth of wisdom may be gauged exactly by the diminution of ill-temper.

If the way which I have pointed out as leading to this result (i.e., power over the emotions by which the wise man surpasses the ignorant man) seems exceedingly hard, it may nevertheless be discovered. Needs must it be hard, since it is so seldom found. How would it be possible, if salvation were ready to our hand, and could without great labour be found, that it should be by almost all men neglected? But all things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.

We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has and is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our fellows undeterred by fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth and all good -- this is the secret of right living.

It is a time-honored adage that love begats love...cast your bread upon the waters and ye shall receive it after many days, increased to a hundredfold.

Be like the fountain that overflows, not like the cistern that merely contains.

Cast your bread upon the waters, and after many days it will come back buttered.

Learn to self-conquest, persevere thus for a time, and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it.

True abundance has nothing to do with anything that I am having, and everything to do with what I am being. And that when I share my abundance of beingness abundantly with all those whose lives I touch, everything I sought to have came to me automatically, without my even trying to have them.

Do you wish the world were better? Let me tell you what to do: Set a watch upon your actions, Keep them always straight and true.

I would like to believe when I die that I have given myself away like a tree that sows seed every spring and never counts the loss, because it is not loss, it is adding to future life. It is the tree's way of being. Strongly rooted perhaps, but spilling out its treasure on the wind.

[it's about] being bitter but patient with your own bitterness so you could learn to be wise and be kind of returned to whatever innocence you might have once had before you became bitter.

Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.

Potency does not mean being unnecessarily aggressive; one has to be wise.

True words aren't eloquent; eloquent words aren't true. Wise men don't need to prove their point; men who need to prove their point aren't wise. The Master has no possessions. The more he does for others, the happier he is. The more he gives to others, the wealthier he is. The Tao nourishes by not forcing. By not dominating, the Master leads.

The fool strikes. The wise man smiles, and watches, and learns. Then strikes.

Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you.