Francois Fenelon Quotes & Sayings

There is practically nothing that men do not prefer to God. A tiresome detail of business, an occupation utterly pernicious to health, the employment of time in ways one does not dare to mention. Anything rather than God. — Francois Fenelon

I no longer desire anything but to be Thine. — Francois Fenelon

Little faults become great, and even monstrous in our eyes, in proportion as the pure light of God increases in us; just as the sun in rising, reveals the true dimensions of objects which were dimly and confusedly discovered during the night. — Francois Fenelon

The Christian life is a long and continual tendency of our hearts toward that eternal goodness which we desire on earth. All our happiness consists in thirsting for it. Now this thirst is prayer. Ever desire to approach your Creator, and you will never cease to pray. Do not think it necessary to pronounce many words. — Francois Fenelon

It is this unquiet self-love that renders us so sensitive. The sick man, who sleeps ill, thinks the night long. We exaggerate, from cowardice, all the evils which we encounter; they are great, but our sensibility increases them. The true way to bear them is to yield ourselves up with confidence to God. — Francois Fenelon

O Lord, I do most cheerfully commit all unto Thee. — Francois Fenelon

It is better to die than to tell a lie — Francois Fenelon

Avoid all refined speculations; confine yourself to simple reflections, and recur to them frequently. Those who pass too rapidly from one truth to another feed their curiosity and restlessness; they even distract their intellect with too great a multiplicity of views. Give every truth time to send down deep root into the heart. — Francois Fenelon

We may as well tolerate all religions, since God Himself tolerates all. — Francois Fenelon

How dangerous it is for our salvation, how unworthy of God and of ourselves, how pernicious even for the peace of our hearts, to want always to stay where we are! Our whole life was only given us to advance us by great strides toward our heavenly country. — Francois Fenelon

Crosses are of no use to us but inasmuch as we yield ourselves up to them and forget ourselves. — Francois Fenelon

The presence of God calms the soul, and gives it quiet and repose. — Francois Fenelon

Pure love is in the will alone; it is no sentimental love, for the imagination has no part in it; it loves, if we may so express it, without feeling, as faith believes without seeing. — Francois Fenelon

Let gratitude for the past inspire us with trust for the future. — Francois Fenelon

No more restless uncertainties, no more anxious desires, no more impatience at the place we are in; for it is God who has placed us there, and who holds us in his arms. Can we be unsafe where he has placed us? — Francois Fenelon

Time spent in prayer is never wasted. — Francois Fenelon

If we love Him infinitely more than we do ourselves, we make an unconditional sacr Here it is that the Spirit teaches us all truth; for all truth is eminently contained in this sacrifice of love, where the soul strips itself of every thing to present it to God. — Francois Fenelon

We desire that God would give us the death-stroke; but we long to die without pain; we would die to our own will by the power of the will itself; we want to lose all and still hold all. Ah! what agony, what distress, when God has brought us to the end of our strength! We faint like a patient under a painful surgical operation. But the comparison is nought, for the object of the surgeon is to give us life
that of God to make us die. — Francois Fenelon

True piety hath in it nothing weak, nothing sad, nothing constrained. It enlarges the heart; it is simple, free, and attractive. — Francois Fenelon

As a general rule, those truths which we highly relish, and which shed a degree of practical light upon the things which we are required to give up for God, are leadings of Divine grace, which we should follow without hesitation. — Francois Fenelon

If God bores you, tell Him that He bores you, that you prefer the vilest amusements to His presence, that you only feel at your ease when you are far from Him. — Francois Fenelon

Had we not faults of our own, we should take less pleasure in complaining of others. — Francois Fenelon

When you come to be sensibly touched, the scales will fall from your eyes; and by the penetrating eyes of love you will discern that which your other eyes will never see. — Francois Fenelon

We are not to choose the manner in which our blessings shall be bestowed. — Francois Fenelon

There is nothing that is more dangerous to your own salvation, more unworthy of God and more harmful to your own happiness, than that you should be content to remain as you are. — Francois Fenelon

It is not the multitude of hard duties, it is not the constraint and contention that advance us in our Christian course. On the contrary, it is the yielding of our wills without restriction and without choice to tread cheerfully every day in the path in which Providence leads us. It is to seek nothing, to be discouraged by nothing, to see our duty in the present moment, and to trust all else without reserve to the will and power of God. — Francois Fenelon

Do we accustom ourselves to see all things in the light of faith? Do we correct all our judgments by it? Alas! The greater part of Christians think and act like mere heathens; if we judge (as we justly may) of their faith by their practice, we must conclude they have no faith at all. — Francois Fenelon

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they who are stripped of every thing, even of their own wills, that they may no longer belong to themselves. — Francois Fenelon

Mankind, by the perverse depravity of their nature, esteem that which they have most desired as of no value the moment it is possessed, and torment themselves with fruitless wishes for that which is beyond their reach. — Francois Fenelon

Children are very nice observers, and they will often perceive our slightest defects. It general those who govern children forgive nothing in them, but everything in themselves. — Francois Fenelon

When tempted, the shortest and surest way is to act like a little child at the breast; when we show it a frightful monster, it shrinks back and buries its face in its mother's bosom, that it may no longer behold it. — Francois Fenelon

O God, the creature knows not to what end Thou hast made Him; teach him, and write in the depths of his soul that the clay must suffer itself to be shaped at the will of the potter. — Francois Fenelon

Give yourself up to His plans. Be led wherever He wills by His providence. Beware how you seek aid from man when God forbids it. Men can only give you what He gives them for you. Why should you be troubled that you can no longer drink from the aqueduct when you are led to the perennial spring itself from which its waters are derived? — Francois Fenelon

It is only by fidelity in little things that the grace of true love to God can be sustained, and distinguished from a passing fervor of spirit ... No one can well believe that our piety is sincere, when our behavior is lax and irregular in its little details. What probability is there that we should not hesitate to make the greatest sacrifices, when we shrink from the smallest? — Francois Fenelon

How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak. — Francois Fenelon

A cross borne in simplicity, without the interference of self-love to augment it, is only half a cross. Suffering in this simplicity of love, we are not only happy in spile of the cross, but because of it; for love is pleased in suffering for the Well Beloved, and the cross which forms us into His image is a consoling bond of love. — Francois Fenelon

Should we feel at times disheartened and discouraged, a simple movement of heart toward God will renew our powers. Whatever he may demand of us, he will give us at the moment the strength and courage that we need. — Francois Fenelon

If we were faultless we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate. — Francois Fenelon

I would have no desire other than to accomplish thy will. Teach me to pray; pray thyself in me. — Francois Fenelon

Above all, live in the present moment and God will give you all the grace you need. — Francois Fenelon

There is but one way in which God should be loved, and that is to take no step except with Him and for Him, and to follow with a generous self-abandonment every thing which He requires. — Francois Fenelon

No human power can force the intrenchments of the human mind: compulsion never persuades; it only makes hypocrites. — Francois Fenelon

Nothing marks so much the solid advancement of a soul, as the view of one's wretchedness without anxiety and without discouragement. — Francois Fenelon

The realization of God's presence is the one sovereign remedy against temptation. — Francois Fenelon

Frequently a big advantage can be gained by knowing how to give in at the right moment. — Francois Fenelon

To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid "big" sins-is this passionate, wholehearted love for God? — Francois Fenelon

Accustom yourself gradually to carry Prayer into all your daily occupation - speak, act, work in peace, as if you were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be. — Francois Fenelon

Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent toward those of others. — Francois Fenelon

Real friends are our greatest joy and our greatest sorrow. It were almost to be wished that all true and faithful friends should expire on the same day. — Francois Fenelon

The youth who, like a woman, loves to adorn his person, has renounced all claim to wisdom and to glory; glory is due to those only who dare to associate with pain, and have trampled pleasure under their feet. — Francois Fenelon

God has not chosen to save us without crosses; as He has not seen fit to create men at once in the full vigor of manhood, but has suffered them to grow up by degrees amid all the perils and weaknesses of youth. — Francois Fenelon

The past but lives in written words: a thousand ages were blank if books had not evoked their ghosts, and kept the pale unbodied shades to warn us from fleshless lips. — Francois Fenelon

Even if no command to pray had existed, our very weakness would have suggested it. — Francois Fenelon

We can often do more for other men by trying to correct our own faults than by trying to correct theirs ~ Francois Fenelon — Francois Fenelon

The more you say, the less people remember. — Francois Fenelon

To pray is to desire; but it is to desire what God would have us desire. — Francois Fenelon

It is often our own imperfection which makes us reprove the imperfection of others; a sharp-sighted self-love of others — Francois Fenelon

This poor world, the object of so much insane attachment, we are about to leave; it is but misery, vanity, and folly; a phantom
the very fashion of which passeth away. — Francois Fenelon

When kings interfere in matters of religion, they enslave instead of protecting it. — Francois Fenelon

If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire were laid down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading I would spurn them all. — Francois Fenelon

There are two principal points of attention necessary for the preservation of this constant spirit of prayer which unites us with God; we must continually seek to cherish it, and we must avoid everything that tends to make us lose it. — Francois Fenelon

I would have every minister of the gospel address his audience with the zeal of a friend, with the generous energy of a father, and with the exuberant affection of a mother. — Francois Fenelon

You can often help others more by correcting your own faults than theirs. Remember, and you should, because of your own experience, that allowing God to correct your faults is not easy. Be patient with people, wait for God to work with them as He wills. — Francois Fenelon

In the light of eternity we shall see that what we desired would have been fatal to us, and that what we would have avoided was essential to our well-being. — Francois Fenelon

The blood of a nation ought never to be shed except for its own preservation in the utmost extremity. — Francois Fenelon

The passion of acquiring riches in order to support a vain expense corrupts the purest souls. — Francois Fenelon

As long as anything in this world means anything to you, your freedom is only a word. You are like a bird that is held by a leash; you can only fly so far. — Francois Fenelon

All wars are civil ones; for it is still man spilling his own blood, tearing out his own bowels. — Francois Fenelon

Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of our self-confidence. — Francois Fenelon

How desirable is this simplicity! Who will give it to me? I will quit all else; it is the pearl of great price. — Francois Fenelon

I am not in the least surprised that your impression of death becomes more lively, in proportion as age and infirmity bring it nearer. God makes use of this rough trial to undeceive us in respect to our courage, to make us feel our weakness, and to keep us in all humility in His hands. — Francois Fenelon

Before putting yourself in peril, it is necessary to forsee and fear it; but when one is there, nothing remains but to despise it. — Francois Fenelon

True prayer is only another name for the love of God. Its excellence does not consist in the multitude of our words; for our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. The true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart prays only for what it desires. To pray, then is to desire
but to desire what God would have us desire. He who asks what he does not from the bottom of his heart desire, is mistaken in thinking that he prays. — Francois Fenelon

I had often heard Mentor say, that the voluptuous were never brave, and I now found by experience that it was true; for the Cyprians whose jollity had been so extravagant and tumultuous, now sunk under a sense of their danger and wept like women. I heard nothing but the screams of terror and the wailings of hopeless distress. Some lamented the loss of pleasures that were never to return; but none had presence of mind either to undertake or direct the navigation of the menaced vessel. — Francois Fenelon

Nothing is more false and more indiscreet than always to want to choose what mortifies us in everything. By this rule a person would soon ruin his health, his business, his reputation, his relations with his relatives and friends, in fact every good work which Providence gives him. — Francois Fenelon

If we had strength and faith enough to trust ourselves entirely to God; and follow Him simply wherever He should lead us, we should have no need of any great effort of mind to reach perfection. — Francois Fenelon

What then are we afraid of? Can we have too much of God? Is it a misfortune to be freed from the heavy yoke of the world, and to bear the light burden of Jesus Christ? Do we fear to be too happy, too much deliver from ourselves, from the caprices of pride, the violence of our passions, and the tyranny of this deceitful world? — Francois Fenelon

Let us endeavor to commence every enterprise with a pure view to the glory of God, continue it without distraction, and finish it without impatience. — Francois Fenelon

Pity enlarges the heart. — Francois Fenelon

Let us pray God that He would root out of our hearts every thing of our own planting, and set out there, with His own hands, the tree of life, bearing all manner of fruits. — Francois Fenelon

We are never less alone than when we are in the society of a single, faithful friend; never less deserted than when we are carried in tne arms of the All-Powerful. — Francois Fenelon

When we are truly in this interior simplicity our whole appearance is franker, more natural. This true simplicity ... makes us conscious of a certain openness, gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity. O, how amiable this simplicity is! Who will give it to me? I leave all for this. It is the pearl of the Gospel. — Francois Fenelon

Faith is letting down our nets into the transparent deeps at the Divine command, not knowing what we shall draw. — Francois Fenelon

Speak, move, act in peace, as if you were in prayer. In truth, this is prayer. — Francois Fenelon

We must avoid fastidiousness; neatness, when it is moderate, is a virtue; but when it is carried to an extreme, it narrows the mind. — Francois Fenelon

Despondency is not a state of humility; on the contrary, it is the vexation and despair of a cowardly pride
nothing is worse; whether we fall, we must only think of rising again and going on course. — Francois Fenelon

There is no true and constant gentleness without humility. While we are so fond of ourselves, we are easily offended with others. Let us be persuaded that nothing is due to us, and then nothing will disturb us. Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we will become indulgent towards those of others. — Francois Fenelon

People who have no secrets from each other never want for a subject of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back, neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God. — Francois Fenelon

Nothing is so costly as the pursuit of a cure for imaginary ills. — Francois Fenelon

Discouragement is simply the despair of wounded self-love. — Francois Fenelon

God, who is liberal in all his other gifts, shows us, by the wise economy of His providence, how circumspect we ought to be in the management of our time, for He never gives us two moments together. — Francois Fenelon

This is the love that does all things; that brings to pass even the evils we suffer; so shaping them that they are but instruments of preparing the good which, as yet, has not arrived. — Francois Fenelon

Thou lovest like an infinite God when Thou lovest; Thou movest heaven and earth to save Thy loved ones. Thou becomest man, a babe, the vilest of men, covered with reproaches, dying with infamy and under the pangs of the cross; all this is not too much for an infinite love. — Francois Fenelon

There is no more dangerous illusion than the fancies by which people try to avoid illusion. — Francois Fenelon

Can we be unsafe where God has placed us, and where He watches over us as a parent a child that he loves? — Francois Fenelon

There were some who said that a man at the point of death was more free than all others, because death breaks every bond, and over the dead the united world has no power. — Francois Fenelon

Alas! how many souls there are full of self, and yet desirous of doing good and serving God, but in such a way as to suit themselves; who desire to impose rules upon God as to His manner of drawing them to Himself. They want to serve and possess Him, but they are not willing to be possessed by Him. — Francois Fenelon

To will everything that God wills, and to will it always, in all circumstances and without reservations: that is the kingdom of God which is entirely within. — Francois Fenelon

God bears with imperfect beings even when they resist His goodness. We ought to imitate this merciful patience and endurance. It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become toward the defects of other people. — Francois Fenelon

I believe that we are conforming to the divine order and the will of Providence when we are doing even indifferent things that belong to our condition. — Francois Fenelon