Isaac of Nineveh

"In the measure that love for the flesh prevails in you,"

"There is nothing so capable of banishing the inveterate habits of licentiousness from our soul,"

"If the heart is not occupied with study,"

"Be peaceful within yourself,"

"The soul that loves God finds rest only in God."

"But what need is there to speak of the ascetics,"

"Moreover, from time to time they [the angels] appeared to them to teach them how they ought to lead their lives."

"If you are truly merciful, do not grieve inwardly when you are unjustly deprived of something you possess,"

"The man whose tongue is inclined to silence will acquire a humble discipline in all his habits"

"O, how evil for hesychasts is the sight of men and intercourse with them!"

"If you wish to hold fast to stillness,"

"Abba Arsenius for God’s sake conversed with no one,"

"The sweetness of prayer is one thing,"

"On pure prayer:"

"At this time (when we make our petitions and our supplications to God, and we speak with Him)"

"Therefore, as I have said, one must not call this gift and grace spiritual prayer,"

"Love is the offspring of knowledge of the truth which, as is commonly confessed, is given to all."

"Thus you will discover that the mind’s wings sprout up in the womb of chastity,"

"As it is not possible to cross over the great ocean without a ship,"

"Fire that has flared up in dry wood is difficult to put out,"

"When a sailor voyages in the midst of the sea, he watches the stars,"

"As grass and fire cannot co-exist in one place,"

"True is the word of the Lord which declares"

"Question Whence does a man perceive that he has attained to humility?"

"Life in the world is like a manuscript of writings that is still in rough draft."

"The man who follows Christ in solitary mourning is greater than he who praises Christ amid the congregations of men."

"Let us then love stillness, my brethren,"

"When the power of stillness overshadows you on account of prolonged abiding in your cell,"

"Once an elder was asked, ‘What is repentance?’"

"The whole length of the night is as the day to them,"

"... how they departed and hid themselves in mountains, caves, and in solitary, secluded places,"

"Hence He continually separated Himself for prayer, and not indiscriminately, but He chose the night for this, and as a place, the desert. Hereby [He taught] us to withdraw from all clamor and tumult, so that we could pray in stillness, as is proper."

"Prayer offered up at night possesses a great power, more than the prayer of the day-time. Therefore all the righteous prayed during the night, while combatting the heaviness of the body and the sweetness of sleep and repelling corporeal nature."

"But when his mind progresses in subtle reflection upon the world to come,"

"Again he was asked, ‘How can a man acquire humility?’"

"Just as presumption dissipates the soul through imaginings that distract her,"

"A humble man is never pleased to see gatherings, confused crowds, tumult, shouts and cries, opulence, adornment, and luxury, the cause of insobriety;"

"A humble man is never rash, hasty, or perturbed,"

"Prayer does not consist only of the repeating ,"

"Accordingly, as I have said above, when—"

"The non-intellectual light is the light that belongs to the elements."

"The light of contemplation proceeds along"

"Let the following prayer not cease from your heart night or day:"

"Wonder of mind follows on from a solitary abode,"

"What watering is to plants, exactly the same is continual silence for the growth of knowledge."

"The “noetic cloud” is the intellect that is smitten with wonder"

"The aim of psalmody should be serene conversation with God"

"The aim of contemplation of the world to come is to be seen in the coming into being of the holy angels—"

"How feeble is the power of ink and the traces of the letters to indicate in writing the precise nature of action,"

"What is a charitable heart? It is a heart which is burning with love for the whole creation, for men, for the birds, for the beasts … for all creatures. He who has such a heart cannot see or call to mind a creature without his eyes being filled with tears by reason of the immense compassion which seizes his heart; a heart which is softened and can no longer bear to see or learn from others of any suffering, even the smallest pain being inflicted upon a creature. That is why such a man never ceases to pray for the animals … [He is] … moved by the infinite pity which reigns in the hearts of those who are becoming united with God."