The Imitation of Christ (Moody Classics)

by Thomas à Kempis

Let therefore our chief endeavor be, to meditate upon the life of Jesus Christ.

If thou wilt know or learn anything profitably, desire to be unknown, and to be little esteemed by man.

It is great wisdom and perfection to esteem ourselves as nothing, and to think always well and highly of others.

O God, who art the truth, make me one with thee in everlasting charity.

Who hath a greater combat than he that laboreth to overcome himself? This ought to be our endeavor, to conquer ourselves, and daily to wax stronger and to make a further growth in holiness.

Truly, at the day of judgment we shall not be examined what we have read, but what we have done;5 not how well we have spoken, but how virtuously we have lived.

Do what lieth in thy power, and God will assist thy good intention.

Be not therefore too confident in thine own opinion; but be willing to hear the judgment of others.

Many secretly seek self-advantage in what they do, and know it not.

Without love the exterior work profiteth nothing;2 but whatsoever is done of love, be it never so little and contemptible in the sight of the world, it becomes wholly fruitful.

Occasions of adversity best discover how great virtue or strength each one hath. For occasions do not make a man frail, but they reveal what he is.

Daily ought we to renew our purposes, and to stir up ourselves to greater fervor, as though this were the first day of our conversion; and to say: “Help me, my God, in this my good purpose, and in thy holy service: and grant that I may now this day begin perfectly; for that which I have done hitherto is as nothing.”

Oh, how great peace and quietness should he possess, that would cut off all vain anxiety, and think only upon divine things, and such as are profitable for his soul, and would place all his confidence in God!

If thou hadn’t a good conscience, thou wouldst not greatly fear death.3 It is better to avoid sins than to flee death.

Alas! length of days doth more often make our sins the greater, than our lives the better!

A religious person that liveth not according to discipline, lies open to great mischief to the ruin of his soul.

Do not think that thou hast made any progress, unless thou feel thyself inferior to all.

But to be able to live peaceably with hard and perverse persons, or with the disorderly, or such as go contrary to us, is a great grace, and a most commendable and manly thing.

If thou intend and seek nothing else but the will of God and the good of thy neighbor, thou shalt thoroughly enjoy internal liberty.

JESUS HATH NOW many lovers of his heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of his cross. He hath many desirous of comfort, but few of tribulation. He findeth many companions of his table, but few of his abstinence. All desire to rejoice with him, few are willing to endure anything for him, or with him. Many follow Jesus unto the breaking of bread; but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion.1 Many reverence his miracles, few follow the ignominy of his cross. Many love Jesus so long as adversities do not happen. Many praise and bless him, so long as they receive comforts from him. But if Jesus hide himself, and leave them but a little while, they fall either into complaining, or into too much dejection of mind.

In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from our enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is the height of virtue, in the cross the perfection of sanctity. There is no salvation of the soul, nor hope of everlasting life, but in the cross.

Better it is to have a small portion of good sense with humility,3 and a slender understanding, than great treasures of learning with vain self-complacency. Better it is for thee to have little than much of that which may make thee proud.

MY SON, I ought to be thy supreme and ultimate end, if thou desire to be truly blessed.

For not every inclination which seems good is immediately to be followed; nor again is every contrary affection at the first to be avoided.

I became of all men the most humble and the most abject, that thou mightest overcome thy pride with my humility. O dust, learn to be obedient. Learn to humble thyself, thou earth and clay, and to bow thyself down under the feet of all men.

O most merciful Jesus, grant to me thy grace, that it may be with me, and labor with me,2 and continue with me even to the end.

Use temporal things, and desire eternal.

If thou hadst not gone before us and taught us, who would have cared to follow!

Grant me, O most sweet and loving Jesus, to rest in thee above all creatures,1 above all health and beauty, above all glory and honor, above all power and dignity, above all knowledge and subtilty, above all riches and arts, above all joy and gladness, above all fame and praise, above all sweetness and comfort, above all hope and promise, above all desert and desire: Above all gifts and presents that thou canst give and impart unto us, above all mirth and jubilation that the mind of man can receive and feel: Finally, above angels and archangels, and above all the heavenly host, above all visible and invisible things, and above all that thou art not, O my God.

Endeavor, my son, rather to do the will of another than thine own.1 Choose always to have less rather than more.2 Seek always the lowest place, and to be inferior to every one.3 Wish always, and pray, that the will of God may be wholly fulfilled in thee.4

Be not solicitous for the shadow of a great name, or for the familiar friendship of many, or for the private affection of individuals. For these things both distract the heart, and greatly darken it.

Give me strength to resist, patience to endure, and constancy to persevere.

O Lord, grant me heavenly wisdom,8 that I may learn above all things to seek and to find thee, above all things to relish and to love thee, and to understand all other things as they are, according to the order of thy wisdom.

Come thou unto me, when it is not well with thee.

This is that which most of all hindereth heavenly comfort, that thou art too slow in turning thyself unto prayer.

We ask how much a man has done, but from what degree of virtuous principle he acts, is not so studiously considered.

We inquire whether he be courageous, rich, handsome, skilful, a good writer, a good singer, or a good laborer; but how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how devout and spiritual, is seldom spoken of.

MY SON, thou canst not possess perfect liberty unless thou wholly deny thyself.1

how canst thou be mine, and I thine, unless thou be stripped of all self-will, both within and without?

Forsake thyself,2 resign thyself, and thou shalt enjoy much inward peace.

Let this be thy whole endeavor, let this be thy prayer, this thy desire; that being stripped of all selfishness, thou mayest with entire simplicity follow Jesus only, and dying to thyself mayest live eternally to me.

The true progress of a man consisteth in the denying of himself; and he that is thus self-denied, liveth in great liberty and security.

Without me no friendship can endure, or will continue; neither is that love true and pure, which is not bound together by me.

What I am not willing to suffer in others, I ought by all means to avoid myself.

It is often thy duty to do that which thou wouldest not, and to leave undone what thou wouldest do.

This is what thou art to wish, that God may be always glorified in thee, whether it be by life or in death.

Grant me, O Lord, to know that which is worth knowing, to love that which is worth loving, to praise that which pleaseth thee most, to esteem that which is precious unto thee, to despise that which in thy sight is contemptible.

How is a man ever better, for being esteemed great by man?

The deceitful in flattering the deceitful, the vain man in extolling the vain, the blind in commending the blind, the weak in magnifying the weak, deceiveth him; and verily doth more shame him, while he doth vainly praise him. “For what every one is in thy sight, that is he, and no more,” saith humble St. Francis.

Humble contrition for sins is an acceptable sacrifice unto thee, O Lord,4 savoring much sweeter in thy presence than the perfume of frankincense.