Quotes by Thomas a Kempis

About Thomas a Kempis:

Thomas à Kempis is one of the best known Christian books on devotion. His name means "Thomas of Kempen", his hometown, and in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen. He also is known by various spellings of his family name: Thomas Haemerken; Thomas Hammerlein; Thomas Hemerken and Thomas Hämerken.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The loftier the building, the deeper must the foundation be laid.

Thomas a Kempis

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.

Thomas a Kempis

If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.

Thomas a Kempis

At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done.

Thomas a Kempis

If all were perfect, what should we have to suffer from others for God's sake? But God has so ordained, that we may learn to bear with one another's burdens, for there is no man without fault, no man without burden, no man sufficient to himself nor w...

Thomas a Kempis

In that day every trial borne in patience will be pleasing and the voice of iniquity will be stilled; the devout will be glad; the irreligious will mourn; and the mortified body will rejoice far more than if it had been pampered with every pleasure. ...

Thomas a Kempis

Do not let your peace depend on the words of men. Their thinking well or badly of you does not make you different from what you are. Where are true peace and glory? Are they not in Me? He who neither cares to please men nor fears to displease them wi...

Thomas a Kempis

Greater is Your care for me than all the care I am able to take from myself.

Thomas a Kempis

It happens very often that those whom men esteem highly are more seriously endangered by their own excessive confidence. Hence, for many it is better not to be too free from temptations, but often to be tried lest they become too secure, too filled w...

Thomas a Kempis

Remain tranquil and prepare to bear still greater trials. All is not lost even though you be troubled oftener or tempted more grievously. You are a man, not God. You are flesh, not an angel. How can you possibly expect to remain always in the same st...

Thomas a Kempis

The Lord bestows his blessings there, where he finds the vessels empty.

Thomas a Kempis

God hath thus ordered it, that we may learn to bear one another’s burdens; for no man is without fault, no man without his burden, no man sufficient of himself, no man wise enough of himself; but we ought to bear with one another, comfort one anoth...

Thomas a Kempis

My God, Sweetness beyond words, make bitter all the carnal comfort that draws me from love of the eternal and lures me to its evil self by the sight of some delightful good in the present. Let it not overcome me, my God. Let not flesh and blood conqu...

Thomas a Kempis

Pardon me also, and deal mercifully with me, as often as I think of anything besides You in prayer. For I confess truly that I am accustomed to be very much distracted. Very often I am not where bodily I stand or sit; rather, I am where my thoughts c...

Thomas a Kempis

When a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at ease. A proud and avaricious man never rests, whereas he who is poor and humble of heart lives in a world of peace. An unmortified man is quickly tempted and overcome in small, trifling e...

Thomas a Kempis

Let temporal things be in the use, eternal things in the desire.

Thomas a Kempis

Not every affection which seems good is to be immediately followed. Neither is every opposite affection to be immediately avoided. Sometimes it is expedient to use restraint even in good desires and wishes, lest through importunity you fall into dist...

Thomas a Kempis

It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well a...

Thomas a Kempis

0 true and heavenly grace, without which our own merits are nothing, and our natural gifts of no account! Neither arts nor riches, beauty nor strength, genius nor eloquence have any value in Your eyes, Lord, unless allied to grace. For the gifts of n...

Thomas a Kempis

Your love for your friend should be grounded in Me, and for My sake you should love whoever seems to be good and is very dear to you in this life. Without Me friendship has no strength and cannot endure. Love which I do not bind is neither true nor p...

Thomas a Kempis

Author Bio

  • NameThomas a Kempis
  • DescriptionGerman canon regular
  • AliasesThomas von Kempen; Thomas Haemerkken; Thomas Hammerlein; Thomas Hemerken; Thomas Hämerken
  • Born1380
  • DiedJuly 25, 1471
  • CountryNetherlands
  • ProfessionTheologian; Writer