"O my God, what must a soul be like when it is in this state! It longs to be all one tongue with which to praise the Lord. It utters a thousand pious follies, in a continuous endeavor to please Him who thus possesses it."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Ecstasy
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"To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Experience
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"Be gentle to all, and stern with yourself."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Kindness
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"It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found -- not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Love
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"Do not dismayed daughters, at the number of things which you have to consider before setting out on this divine journey, which is the royal road to heaven. By taking this road we gain such precious treasures that it is no wonder if the cost seems to us a high one. The time will come when we shall realize that all we have paid has been nothing at all by comparison with the greatness of our prizes."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Possessions
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"Answered prayers cause more tears than those that remain unanswered."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Prayer
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"There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Prayer
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"Learn to self-conquest, persevere thus for a time, and you will perceive very clearly the advantage which you gain from it. As soon you apply yourself to orison, you will at once feel your senses gather themselves together: they seem like bees which return to the hive and there shut themselves up to work at the making of honey. At the first call of the will, they come back more and more quickly. At last, after countless exercises, of this kind, God disposes them to a state of utter rest and of perfect contemplation."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Self-conquest
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"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can -- namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Self-knowledge
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"We know only that we are living in these bodies and have a vague idea, because we have heard it, and because our faith tells us so, that we possess souls. As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or who dwells within them, or how precious they are, those are things which seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul's beauty."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Beauty
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"To have courage for whatever comes in life -- everything lies in that."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Courage
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"We bloomed in Spring. Our bodies are the leaves of God. The apparent seasons of life and death our eyes can suffer; but our souls, dear, I will just say this forthright: they are God Himself, we will never perish until He does."

Teresa of Avila, St. on Death and Dying
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