Ambrose of Milan > Quotes

“No one heals himself by wounding another.”
― St. Ambrose

“If you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to you and the other to the man with no shirt.”
― St. Ambrose

“It is preferable to have a virgin mind than a virgin body. Each is good if each be possible; if it be not possible, let me be chaste, not to man but to God.”
― St. Ambrose, Concerning Virgins

“Death was not part of nature; it became part of nature. God did not decree death from the beginning; he prescribed it as a remedy. Human life was condemned because of sin to unremitting labour and unbearable sorrow and so began to experience the burden of wretchedness. There had to be a limit to its evils; death had to restore what life had forfeited. Without the assistance of grace, immortality is more of a burden than a blessing.”
― St. Ambrose of Milan

“Woman, the child of so many tears shall never perish.”
― St. Ambrose

“Father, if possible, take away this cup from me." Many cling to this text in order to use the sadness of the Savior as proof that he had weakness from the beginning rather than taking it on for a time. In this way they distort the natural meaning of the sentence. I, however, consider it not only as something that does not need to be excused, but nowhere else do I admire more his tender love and majesty. He would have given me less, had he not taken on my emotions. Thus he suffered affliction for me, he who did not have to suffer anything for himself. Setting aside the enjoyment of his divinity, he is afflicted with the annoyance of my weakness. He took on my sadness so that he might bestow on me his joy. He descended into the anguish of death by following in our footsteps so that he might call us back to life by following in his footsteps. I do not hesitate to speak of sadness since I am preaching the cross; he took on not the appearance but the reality of the Incarnation. Thus, instead of avoiding it, he had to take on the pain in order to overcome sadness.”
― Ambrose of Milan, Commentary of Saint Ambrose on the Gospel according to Saint Luke

“Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace. Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the sun of the everlasting light...”
― Saint Ambrose (Bishop of Milan)

“the giving of good advice is a great means of gaining men's affections,”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“modesty, for that is the friend and ally of calmness of mind.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“Let God alone be sought as the judge of loveliness, Who loves even in less beautiful bodies the more beautiful souls.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“It is idle to play the lyre for an ass.”
― St. Ambrose

“Natural grief is one thing, distrustful sadness is another, and there is a very great difference between longing for what you have lost and lamenting that you have lost it.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“The practice of perfect virtue does not require teaching, but instructs others.”
― St. Ambrose, Concerning Virgins

“The devil tempts that he may ruin; God tests that he may crown.”
― Ambrose of Milan

“He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others.”
― Ambrose of Milan

“He waits for our tears, that He may pour forth His goodness.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill.”
― St. Ambrose of Milan

“if force is used, I cannot meet it. I shall be able to grieve, to weep, to groan; against weapons, soldiers, Goths, my tears are my weapons, for these are a priest's defence.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ.”
― Saint Ambrose

“ Non in dialecticâ complacuit Deo salvum facere populum suum”
― St. Ambrose

“And now let the feet of our minds be stretched out. The Lord Jesus wills also to wash our feet, for He says, not to Peter alone, but to each of the faithful: If I wash not your feet you will have no part with Me. [ John 13: 8 ]”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“Whether you eat or drink, all is to be done in the name of Jesus Christ, [ 1 Corinthians 10: 31 ] that even the very refreshment of the body is to have respect to the worship of holy religion.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“They, then, who are able also to fight for us are able to guard the fruit that is in us. And for you, holy virgins, there is a special guardianship, for you who with unspotted chastity keep the couch of the Lord holy. And no wonder if the angels fight for you who war with the mode of life of angels. Virginal chastity merits their guardianship whose life it attains to.”
― Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Virgins

“Is anything more unbecoming than the divine words should be so drowned by talking, as not to be heard, believed, or made known, that the sacraments should be indistinctly heard through the sound of voices, that prayer should be hindered when offered for the salvation of all?”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“Joshua the son of Nun, who could stay the sun from setting, could not stay the love of money in man from creeping on.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“If, then, a good marriage is servitude, what is a bad one, when they cannot sanctify, but destroy one another? 70. But”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“if you can not calm your mind, check at least your tongue. For so it is written: Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips that they speak no guile. Seek peace and pursue it.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“Who would forsake and abandon what he believes himself to have produced? If it is derogatory to rule, is it not more so to have created? Though there is no wrong involved in not creating anything, it is surely the height of cruelty not to care for what one has created.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“A noble thing, then, is modesty, which, though giving up its rights, seizing on nothing for itself, laying claim to nothing, and in some ways somewhat retiring within the sphere of its own powers, yet is rich in the sight of God, in Whose sight no man is rich. Rich is modesty, for it is the portion of God.”
― Ambrose of Milan, The Complete Works of St. Ambrose (11 Books): Cross-Linked to the Bible

“It is easier to look wise than to talk wisely.”
― Ambrose of Milan