Zitate von Thomas von Kempen

„Denke nicht so viel darüber nach, wer für oder gegen dich ist, verwende lieber all deine Sorge darauf, dass Gott bei allem mit dir ist!“

—  Thomas von Kempen

Nachfolge Christi 2, 2, 1
Original lat.: "Non magni pendas qui pro te vel contra te fit, sed hoc age, et cura, ut Deus tecum sit in omni re quam facis."

„Freude wird jedes Mal dein Abendbrot sein, wenn du den Tag nützlich zugebracht hast.“

—  Thomas von Kempen

Nachfolge Christi 1, 25, 11
Original lat.: "Gaudebis semper de vespere, si diem expendes fructuose."

„Herr, du weißt, was besser (für mich) ist: Mache es so oder so, wie du willst. Gib mir was du willst, wieviel du willst und wann du willst. […] Stelle mich, wohin du willst und tu mit mir in allem nach deinem Wohlgefallen.“

—  Thomas von Kempen

Nachfolge Christi 3, 15, 2
Original lat.: "Domine, tu scis qualiter melius est (mihi): fac hoc vel illud sicut volueris. Da mihi quod vis et quantum vis et quando vis. […] Pone me ubi vis et liber age mecum in omnibus."

„Lerne Geduld haben mit fremden Fehlern; denn siehe, du hast auch viel an dir, was andere tragen müssen.“

—  Thomas von Kempen

Nachfolge Christi 1, 16, 2
Original lat.: "Stude patiens esse in tolerando aliorum defectus, et qualescumque infirmitates, quia et tu multa habes, quæ ab aliis oportet tolerari."

„Was der Zeit unterworfen ist, das brauche; was ewig ist, danach strebe.“

—  Thomas von Kempen

Nachfolge Christi 3, 16, 1
Original lat.: "Sint temporalia in usu, æterna in desiderio."

„Wenn Gott unser einziger Wunsch wäre, wären wir nicht so verärgert, wenn unsere Ansichten nicht akzeptiert würden.“

—  Thomas von Kempen

„Wer etwas Eigenes haben will, verliert das Gemeinsame.“

—  Thomas von Kempen

Nachfolge Christi 3, 13, 1
Original lat.: "Qui quærit habere privata, amittit communia."

„If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.“

—  Thomas à Kempis, buch Nachfolge Christi

Quelle: The Imitation of Christ

„Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.“

—  Thomas à Kempis, buch Nachfolge Christi

Book I, ch. 16.
Quelle: The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418)

„A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.“

—  Thomas à Kempis, buch Nachfolge Christi

Quelle: The Imitation of Christ

„Jesus has now many lovers of the heavenly kingdom but few bearers of His cross.“

—  Thomas à Kempis

Quelle: Imitation Of Christ

„Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of its trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse for impossibility, for it thinks all things are lawful for itself and all things are possible“

—  Thomas à Kempis

„The more humble and obedient to God a man is, the more wise and at peace he will be in all that he does.“

—  Thomas à Kempis

Quelle: The Inner Life

„At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how holily we have lived.“

—  Thomas à Kempis, buch Nachfolge Christi

Book I, ch. 3; this is part of a longer passage:
A humble knowledge of oneself is a surer road to God than a deep searching of the sciences. Yet learning itself is not to be blamed, or is the simple knowledge of anything whatsoever to be despised, for true learning is good in itself and ordained by God; but a good conscience and a holy life are always to be preferred. But because many are more eager to acquire much learning than to live well, they often go astray, and bear little or no fruit. If only such people were as diligent in the uprooting of vices and the panting of virtues as they are in the debating of problems, there would not be so many evils and scandals among the people, nor such laxity in communities. At the Day of Judgement, we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done; not how eloquently we have spoken, but how holily we have lived. Tell me, where are now all those Masters and Doctors whom you knew so well in their lifetime in the full flower of their learning? Other men now sit in their seats, and they are hardly ever called to mind. In their lifetime they seemed of great account, but now no one speaks of them.
[Humili tui cognitio, certior viam est ad Deum, quam profunda scientiae inquisitio. Non est culpanda scientia, aut quelibet simplex rei notitia, quae bona est in se considerata, et a Deo ordinat: sed preferenda est semper bona conscientia, et virtuosa vita. Quia vero plures magis student scire, quam bene vivere: ideo saepe errant, et pene nullum, vel modicum fructum ferunt. O si tanta adhiberent diligentiam ad extirpanda vitia, et virtute inferendas, sicuti ad movenda questiones: non fierent tanta mala et scandala in populo nec tanta dissolutio in cenobiis ! Certe, adveniente die judicii, non quaeretur a nobis: quid legimus, sed quid fecimus: nec quam bene diximus, sed quam religiose viximus. Dic mihi: Ubi sunt modo omnes illi Domini et Magistri, quos bene novisti, dum adhuc viverent et studiis florerent? Iam eorum praebendas alii possident: et nescio, utrum de eis recogitent. In vita sua aliquid esse videbantur, et modo de illis tacetur.]
Book I, ch. 3.
Original: (la) Certe adveniente die judicii, non quæretur a nobis quid legimus, sed quid fecimus; nec quam bene diximus, sed quam religiose viximus.
Quelle: The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418)

„Wherever you go, there you are.“

—  Thomas à Kempis, buch Nachfolge Christi

Quelle: The Imitation of Christ

„All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.“

—  Thomas à Kempis, buch Nachfolge Christi

Quelle: The Imitation of Christ

„A book has but one voice, but it does not instruct everyone alike.“

—  Thomas à Kempis

„For a small reward, a man will hurry away on a long journey; while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step.“

—  Thomas à Kempis

„Grant me prudently to avoid him that flatters me, and to endure patiently him that contradicts me.“

—  Thomas à Kempis