Teresa Of Ávila

Teresa Of Ávila

Spanish mystic and reformer.

A Spanish mystic, theologian, and reformer of the Carmelite order, she is known for her deep spiritual insights and writings on contemplative prayer and the nature of divine union. Her work emphasizes the importance of inner silence and the cultivation of a direct, personal relationship with God. Her teachings on mystical experience and inner transformation continue to inspire seekers of spiritual depth across many traditions.

Teresa Of Ávila Quotes about Life

  • What a miserable life is this! There is no happiness that is secure and nothing that does not change.
  • All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding His life we find that He is the best example.
  • To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.
  • How is it that we do not die of love in seeing that God Himself could do no more than shed His divine blood for us drop by drop? When as man He was preparing for death, He made Himself our food in order to give us life. God becomes food, bread for his creatures. Is this not enough to make us die of love?
  • The life of prayer is just love to God, and the custom of being ever with Him.
  • Her heart is full of joy with love, for in the Lord her mind is stilled. She has renounced every selfish attachment and draws abiding joy and strength from the One within. She lives not for herself, but lives to serve the Lord of Love in all, and swims across the sea of life breasting its rough waves joyfully.
  • Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life. . . . If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.
  • In a state of grace, the soul is like a well of limpid water, from which flow only streams of clearest crystal. Its works are pleasing both to God and man, rising from the River of Life, beside which it is rooted like a tree.
  • The life of the spirit is not our life, but the life of God within us.
  • From heaven even the most miserable life will look like one bad night at an inconvenient hotel.
  • Life is a night spent in an uncomfortable inn.
  • 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.