Letters from the Desert Quotes

“If you find yourself in the company of people conversing about either worldly or spiritual matters, give the impression that you too are contributing something, while saying nothing that harms the soul. Bear in mind that you should avoid their praises, lest you appear to them to be silent and are later burdened by this. However, even if you do this, make sure that you do not condemn them as speaking much, simply because you are saying little. For you do not know whether what will burden you will actually be the one word that you have spoken rather than the many words that they have spoken.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“One should not eat to the point of satiation but only a little. For if one eats to the point of satiation, even from a food that is beneficial, one is harmed.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“If the heart is vigilant (Song 5.2), then sleep is nothing for the body; this is like a person who is almost snoring and, when he hears robbers breaking in, does everything possible to escape them. Thus, if we are able to understand, we shall see that we are exactly like this.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“There are also times when the enemy craftily makes the heart find a little rest, in order that it may not invoke the name of God. For, the demons are not ignorant of the fact that they are annoyed by the invocation of God’s name. Therefore, knowing this, let us not cease invoking the name of God for our assistance; for, this is the best prayer. It is also said: “Pray unceasingly” (1 Thess 5.17), and unceasingly implies without end or limit.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“simply do whatever comes naturally.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“Since our Lord Jesus Christ has said: “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened for you” (Mt 7.7), then pray to this good God in order that he might send his Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to us. When this comes, it shall teach us about everything (Jn 14.26) and reveal all of the mysteries to us. Seek to be guided by this Spirit. It will not allow deceit or distraction in the heart. It will not permit despondency or melancholy in the mind. It illumines the eyes, supports the heart, and uplifts the intellect.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“False knowledge is trusting in one’s own thought, that things are as they appear to us. Whosoever wishes to be delivered of this should not trust in one’s own thought, but ask one’s elder. If the elder responds and his response is what the brother thought, then one should still not trust in one’s own thought, saying: “I was ridiculed by the demons in order to be persuaded by my thought that I have true knowledge, so that once I have believed this, they might lead me in other ways to fall on my head. The elder spoke the truth because he speaks from God. He is not at all ridiculed by the demons.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“If someone goes to prison for you, you will want to thank that person exceedingly. How much more so for the one who dies for you?”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“Therefore, if a person is deceived but afterward learns and says: “I have been deceived, Lord Master, forgive me,” God will forgive that person, for he is merciful.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“If you have something to eat and notice your thought wanting to eat alone on account of desire and not of need, in this respect you do not regard him as yourself. Even if you only have enough for whatever you need, if you do not give him some of this, in this respect you do not regard him as yourself.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“This thought of yours is wicked; for it wants to prevent you from correcting your brother. Therefore, do not prevent yourself from speaking; but rather, speak according to God.

For, indeed, even sick people that are being healed will speak against their doctors; yet, the latter do not care, knowing that the same people will thank them afterward.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“Not only do people differ from one another (Letter 157); indeed, even circumstances within one and the same person may differ from time to time (Letter 842). This is why “conscience” plays an important role in these letters.19 Conscience implies the integral knowledge of many aspects and factors that are interconnected and interdependent. It is a knowledge that is more intuitive than analytical, a knowledge that invites and involves the subconscious, the conscious and the supraconscious levels.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses

“The two Old Men move beyond a rigid code of ethical prescriptions, with their almost inhumane consequences, into a more compassionate situational or occasional ethics, where there are no established formulas and fewer binding directives, where the individual always assumes responsibility for his or her actions.”
― John Chryssavgis, Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses