John Cassian Quotes

#1. We should realize that there are three sources for our thoughts - God, the devil, and ourselves.

John Cassian

#2. It is impossible for the mind to remain undisturbed by thoughts, but anyone serious about the matter can certainly permit them entry or drive them away, and although their origin does not lie entirely under our control we can choose to approve of them and to adopt them.

John Cassian

#3. No other virtue makes man more equal to the angels, than the imitation of their way of life.

John Cassian

#4. Whoever is guided solely by his own judgment and decision will never climb up to the summit of perfection and will not fail to be the victim of the devil's ruinous power to delude.

John Cassian

#5. No just man suffices unto himself for the winning of justification. The divine mercy must always hold out a hand to his footsteps as they falter and almost stumble, and this is so because the weakness of his free will may cause him to lose balance, and if he falls he may perish forever.

John Cassian

#6. A clear rule for self-control handed down by the Fathers is this: stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied.

John Cassian

#7. In proportion as the ardor of divine love brings you nearer to God, so will a larger concourse of saintly brethren flock to you. For, as the Lord says, 'A city set on a hill cannot be hid' (Mt. 5:14).

John Cassian

#8. The bond between friends cannot be broken by chance; no interval of time or space can destroy it. Not even death itself can part true friends.

John Cassian

#9. All of our holy fathers knew this and all with one accord teach that perfection in holiness can be achieved only through humility.

John Cassian

#10. It is not an external enemy we dread. Our foe is shut up within ourselves. An internal warfare is daily waged by us.

John Cassian

#11. It is a bigger miracle to be patient and refrain from anger than it is to control the demons which fly through the air.

John Cassian

#12. The Doctor of our souls has placed the remedy in the hidden regions of the soul.

John Cassian

#13. If you wish to attain to true knowledge of the Scriptures, hasten to acquire first an unshakeable humility of heart. That alone will lead you, not to the knowledge that puffs up, but to that which enlightens, by the perfecting of love.

John Cassian

#14. It is by means of these that we attain perfect love, through the grace and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory through all the ages. Amen.

John Cassian

#15. True knowledge is found only among those genuinely worshiping God.

John Cassian

#16. The thief who received the kingdom of heaven, though not as the reward of virtue, is a true witness to the fact that salvation is ours through the grace and mercy of God.

John Cassian

#17. God can be sensed when we gaze with trembling hearts at that power of his which controls, guides, and rules everything, when we contemplate his immense knowledge and his knowing look which the secrets of the heart cannot evade.

John Cassian

#18. No structure of virtue can possibly be raised in our soul unless, first, the foundations of true humility are laid in our heart.

John Cassian

#19. Humility, in its turn, can be achieved only through faith, fear of God, gentleness and the shedding of all possessions.

John Cassian

#20. Unless the grace of God comes to the help of our frailty, to protect and defend it, no man can withstand the insidious onslaughts of the enemy nor can he damp down or hold in check the fevers which burn in our flesh with nature's fire.

John Cassian