On Social Justice Quotes

“When I go into the house of one of these tasteless newly rich individuals, and see it bedecked with every imaginable hue, I know that this person possesses nothing more valuable than what is on display; such people decorate inanimate objects, but fail to beautify the soul.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“I know many who fast, pray, sigh, and demonstrate every manner of piety, so long as it costs them nothing, yet would not part with a penny to help those in distress.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Preserve gratitude like a precious deposit within your soul, and from it you will receive a double portion of delight. Remember the apostolic word, "Give thanks in all circumstances.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great

“You showed no mercy; it will not be shown to you. You opened not your house; you will be expelled from the Kingdom. You gave not your bread; you will not receive eternal life.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Care for the needy requires the expenditure of wealth: when all share alike, disbursing their possessions among themselves, they each receive a small portion for their individual needs. Thus, those who love their neighbor as themselves possess nothing more than their neighbor; yet surely, you seem to have great possessions! How else can this be, but that you have preferred your own enjoyment to the consolation of the many? For the more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in love.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“For if we all took only what was necessary to satisfy our own needs, giving the rest to those who lack, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, and no one would be in need.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great

“After they have squandered their wealth among so many pursuits, if there is any left over, they hide it in the ground and guard it deep within the earth. “For the future,” they say, “is always uncertain; therefore let us take care, lest some unforeseen need should arise.” Yet while it is uncertain whether you will have need of this buried gold, the losses you incur from your inhuman behavior are not at all uncertain”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“What then will you answer the Judge? You gorgeously array your walls, but do not clothe your fellow human being; you adorn horses, but turn away from the shameful plight of your brother or sister; you allow grain to rot in your barns, but do not feed those who are starving; you hide gold in the earth, but ignore the oppressed!”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Had you clothed the naked, had you given your bread to the hungry, had your door been open to every stranger, had you been a parent to the orphan, had you made the suffering of every helpless person your own, what money would you have left, the loss of which to grieve?”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“But wealth is necessary for rearing children,' someone will say. This is a specious excuse for greed; although you speak as though children were your concern, you betray the inclinations of your own heart. Do not impute guilt to the guiltless! They have their own Master who cares for their needs. They received their being from God, and God will provide what they need to live. Was the command found in the Gospel, 'If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor,' not written for the married? After seeking the blessing of children from the Lord, and being found worthy to become parents, did you at once add the following, 'Give me children, that I may disobey your commandments; give me children, that I might not attain the Kingdom of Heaven?”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great

“Though you speak to yourself in secret, your words are examined in heaven.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“When you are about to give to a poor person on the Lord’s account, that same gift is also a loan: it is a gift because you do not hope to receive it back again, but a loan because the Master in his great beneficence undertakes to make repayment for the poor person. He receives a little in the guise of the poor, but gives back much on their behalf. “The one who has mercy on the poor lends to God.”13 Would you not like to have the Master of all as your guarantor for full repayment”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“For in truth it is the height of inhumanity that those who do not have enough even for basic necessities should be compelled to seek a loan in order to survive, while others, not being satisfied with the return of the principal, should turn the misfortune of the poor to their own advantage and reap a bountiful harvest. Thus, the Lord explicitly commanded us, saying, “Do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Thus, the Lord explicitly commanded us, saying, “Do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Give but a little, and you will gain much; undo the primal sin by sharing your food. Just as Adam transmitted sin by eating wrongfully, so we wipe away the treacherous food when we remedy the need and hunger of our brothers and sisters.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“For whoever has the ability to remedy the suffering of others, but chooses rather to withhold aid out of selfish motives, may properly be judged the equivalent of a murderer.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“If you also give from your lack, you will have the vessel of oil ever flowing by the gift of mercy, and the inexhaustible jar of flour.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Are you poor? You know someone who is even poorer. You have provisions for only ten days, but someone else has only enough for one day. As a good and generous person, redistribute your surplus to the needy.7 Do not shrink from giving the little that you have; do not prefer your own benefit to remedying the common distress.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy. You are thus guilty of injustice toward as many as you might have aided, and did not.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“If you want storehouses, you have them in the stomachs of the poor. Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“In anticipation, therefore, prepare yourself for your own burial. Works of piety are an excellent burial garment. Make your departure dressed in the full regalia of your good deeds; convert your wealth into a truly inseparable adornment; keep everything with you when you go!”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“You are not disappointed when you must spend gold in order to purchase a horse. But when you have the opportunity to exchange corruptible things for the Kingdom of Heaven, you shed tears, spurning the one who asks of you and refusing to give anything, while contriving a million excuses for your own expenditures.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“It befits those who possess sound judgment to recognize that they have received wealth as a stewardship, and not for their own enjoyment; thus, when they are parted from it, they rejoice as those who relinquish what is not really theirs, instead of becoming downcast like those who are stripped of their own.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“When wealth is scattered in the manner which our Lord directed, it naturally returns, but when it is gathered, it naturally disperses. If you try to keep it, you will not have it; if you scatter it, you will not lose it.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“You are guilty of injustice towards as many as you might have aided, and did not.”38”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Whoever has the ability to remedy the suffering of others, but chooses rather to withhold aid out of selfish motives, may properly be judged the equivalent of a murderer.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Is not the person who strips another of clothing called a thief?” Basil asks. “And those who do not clothe the naked when they have the power to do so, should they not be called the same?”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“Thus, “tearing down one’s barns” means redefining one’s “needs” based upon a change in one’s circumstances. Basil in effect says that if people never have anything extra to share, this is primarily due to the fact that whenever they find themselves in possession of a surplus, they immediately adjust their definition of need to fit the new situation. While the foolish rich man in the parable only thought to tear down his barns one time, such people are in effect constantly tearing down their barns in order to build larger ones, only to tear these down and build them up again:”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy.”32”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice

“The content of the distributive mandate is that whatever one has that is “extra,” over and above one’s actual needs, should be given to those who have less.”
― Basil the Great, On Social Justice