John Chrysostom Quotes & Sayings

Nothing is more fallacious than wealth. It is a hostile comrade, a domestic enemy. — John Chrysostom

Though the waves and the sea and the anger of princes are roused against me, they are less to me than a spider's web. — John Chrysostom

The Holy Scriptures were not given
to us that we should enclose
them in books, but that we should
engrave them upon our hearts. — John Chrysostom

I know my own soul, how feeble and puny it is: I know the magnitude of this ministry, and the great difficulty of the work; for more stormy billows vex the soul of the priest than the gales which disturb the sea. — John Chrysostom

For You are holy, our God, and to You we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever... — John Chrysostom

As a moth gnaws a garment, so doth envy consume a [person]. — John Chrysostom

Hell is paved with priests' skulls. — John Chrysostom

The highest point of philosophy is to be both wise and simple; this is the angelic life. — John Chrysostom

But first I want you to tell me this: do you know the power of love? Christ passed over all the marvellous works which were to be performed by the apostles and said, By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another. — John Chrysostom

Slander is worse than cannibalism. — John Chrysostom

No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great. — John Chrysostom

I do not know whether anyone has ever succeeded in not enjoying praise. And, if he enjoys it, he naturally wants to receive it. And if he wants to receive it, he cannot help but being distraught at losing it. Those who are in love with applause have their spirits starved not only when they are blamed off-hand, but even when they fail to be constantly praised. — John Chrysostom

Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude. — John Chrysostom

But now, instead of organs, Christians must use the body to praise God. — John Chrysostom

The divine law indeed has excluded women from this ministry, but they endeavour to thrust themselves into it; and since they can effect nothing of themselves, they do all through the agency of others. — John Chrysostom

Men have the power of thinking that they may avoid sin. — John Chrysostom

Do not say I use what is mine: you use what is alien to you; the indulgent, selfish use makes what is yours something alien; that is why I call it alien good, because you use it with a hardened heart and claim that it is right, that you alone live from what is yours. — John Chrysostom

For Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force. — John Chrysostom

Everywhere, wherever you may find yourself, you can set up an altar to God in your mind by means of prayer. — John Chrysostom

Riches are not forbidden, but the pride of them is. — John Chrysostom

[On what young husbands should say to their wives:] I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated in the life reserved for us ... I place your love above all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a different mind than you. — John Chrysostom

Poor human reason, when it trusts in itself, substitutes the strangest absurdities for the highest divine concepts. — John Chrysostom

result,1 the first focuses on — John Chrysostom

No one can harm the man who does himself no wrong. — John Chrysostom

When one is required to preside over the Church, and be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also. — John Chrysostom

If then we have angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also. — John Chrysostom

A friend is more to be longed for than the light; I speak of a genuine one. And wonder not: for it were better for us that the sun should be extinguished, than that we should be deprived of friends; better to live in darkness, than to be without friends — John Chrysostom

If a man cannot learn well a melody on pipe or harp, unless he in every way strain his attention; how shall one, who sits as a listener to sounds mystical, be able to hear with a careless soul? — John Chrysostom

Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may recieve your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If,on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver. — John Chrysostom

For those who have little are not equally held in subjection by their possessions as those who overflow with affluence, for then the love of it becomes more tyrannical. The increase of acquisitions kindles the flame more, and renders those who possess them poorer. — John Chrysostom

We follow the ways of wolves, the habits of tigers: or, rather we are worse than they. To them nature has assigned that they should be thus fed, while God has honoured us with rational speech and a sense of equity. And yet we are become worse than the wild beast. — John Chrysostom

Since it is likely that, being men, they would sin every day, St. Paul consoles his hearers by saying 'renew yourselves' from day to day. This is what we do with houses: we keep constantly repairing them as they wear old. You should do the same thing to yourself. Have you sinned today? Have you made your soul old? Do not despair, do not despond, but renew your soul by repentance, and tears, and Confession, and by doing good things. And never cease doing this. — John Chrysostom

For it cannot, it cannot be, that a man should enjoy the benefit of grace except he watch. — John Chrysostom

A comprehended god is no god. — John Chrysostom

Let the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbor. — John Chrysostom

The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. — John Chrysostom

It is this that ruins churches, that you do not seek to hear sermons that touch the heart, but sermons that will delight your ears with their intonation and the structure of their phrases, just as if you were listening to singers and lute-players. And we preachers humor your fancies, instead of trying to crush them. We act like a father who gives a sick child a cake or an ice, or something else that is merely nice to eat
just because he asks for it; and takes no pains to give him what is good for him; and then when the doctors blame him says, 'I could not bear to hear my child cry.' ... That is what we do when we elaborate beautiful sentences, fine combinations and harmonies, to please and not to profit, to be admired and not to instruct, to delight and not to touch you, to go away with your applause in our ears, and not to better your conduct. — John Chrysostom

And all men are ready to pass judgement on the priest as if he was not a being clothed with flesh, or one who inherited a human nature. — John Chrysostom