Johannes Tauler > Quotes

“The greater the void, the greater the divine influx.”
― John Tauler

“In wanting, a man knows himself better than in having, since, in the absence of temporal things, man is better prepared for the reception of eternal things.”
― Johannes Tauler, ascribed to

“In the most intimate, hidden and innermost ground of the soul, God is always essentially, actively, and substantially present. Here the soul possesses everything by grace which God possesses by nature.”
― John Tauler

“Give yourself entirely to God, enter and hide in the hidden ground of your soul.”
― John Tauler

“Because in the school of the Spirit man learns wisdom through humility, knowledge by forgetting, how to speak by silence, how to live by dying.”
― John Tauler

“For where there is true love, a man is neither out of measure lifted up by prosperity, nor cast down by mishap; whether you give or take away from him, so long as he keeps his beloved, he has a spring of inward peace. Thus, even though thy outward man grieve, or weep downright, that may well be borne, if only thy inner man remain at peace, perfectly content with the will of God.”
― John Tauler

“As long as a man has, he must give. And when he has nothing more, he is free. This freedom is far nobler than the former giving, for he no longer gives in accident but in essence, and he no longer gives one gift, but all gifts, and he no longer gives to just one man, but to all men.”
― Johannes Tauler

“God does not lead all His servants by one road, nor in one way, nor at one time; for God is in all things; and that man is not serving God aright, who can only serve Him in his own self-chosen way.”
― John Tauler

“The first type of captivity consists in man’s dependence on creatures, animate or inanimate, when he loves them without reference to God.”
― Johannes Tauler