Theodore Parker Quotes

I think you can judge from somebody's actions a kind of a stability and sense of purpose perhaps created by strong religious roots. I mean, there's a certain patience, a certain discipline, I think, that religion helps you achieve.

Whoso will pray, he must fast and be clean, And fat his soul, and make his body lean.

I am not perfect, but my faith keeps me as close to the straight and narrow as possible.

A monk's extraordinary patience can be a hindrance to desperate decision-making.

Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.

Fasting is, first and foremost, an exercise for identifying and managing adversity in all its forms. With faith, in full conscience, fasting calls women and men to an extra degree of self-awareness.

It is my own firm belief that the strength of the soul grows in proportion as you subdue the flesh.

Saints were saints because they acted with loving kindness whether they felt like it or not.

Death is not more certainly a separation of our souls from our bodies than the Christian life is a separation of our souls from worldly tempers, vain indulgences, and unnecessary cares.

Religion which lays so many restraints upon us, is a troublesome companion to those who will lay no restraints upon themselves.

Let the professors of Christianity recommend their religion by deeds of benevolence - by Christian meekness - by lives of temperance and holiness.

The life of a good man is a continual warfare with his passions.

For the standard of Christian life was to be strained to a higher pitch; more fasting was required, and more careful separation from the manners and enjoyments of the world; celibacy and martyrdom had great value set upon them, and second marriages were prohibited.

We men are easily prone to sins of thought. Therefore, He who has formed each heart individually, knowing that the impulse received from the intention constitutes the major element in sin, has ordained that purity in the ruling part of our soul be our primary concern.

Faith is the foundation upon which a godlike character is built. It is a prerequisite for all other virtues.

The world calls for, and expects from us, simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility, detachment, and self-sacrifice. Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man.

Asceticism doesn't lie in mere words; He is an ascetic who treats everyone alike. Asceticism doesn't lie in visiting burial places; it lies not in wandering about nor in bathing at places of pilgrimage. Asceticism is to remain pure amidst impurities.

The desert Arab found no joy like the joy of voluntarily holding back. He found luxury in abnegation, renunciation, self restraint. He made nakedness of the mind as sensuous as nakedness of the body. He saved his own soul, perhaps, and without danger, but in a hard selfishness.

Asceticism doesn't lie in ascetic robes or in walking staff nor in the ashes. Asceticism doesn't lie in the earring nor in the shaven head nor blowing a conch. Asceticism lies in remaining pure amidst impurities.

My life is such a contradiction. My soul yearns for holiness and then runs from the mortification necessary to attain it.

Trying to do Christianity properly is tough. Life as a priest is rigorous and disciplined. It involves sacrifices.

Playing a sadhu is not easy at all.

Moral training in Ireland is severe and lasts until marriage. Even in childhood, we are taught by the pious clergy to battle against bad thoughts so that we may preserve our holy purity.

There is more security in self-denial, mortification, and other like virtues, than in an abundance of tears.

Prayer can come in only when fasting has done its work. It can make fasting easy and bearable.