"I began to fear more the terrible danger of pride if I did well than the disgrace if I did badly. There I was at a crossroad between fear and charity, not knowing which way was safe to take. If I spoke to any profit about humility I feared to be found lacking in it; [...]
"I began to fear more the terrible danger of pride if I did well than the disgrace if I did badly. There I was at a crossroad between fear and charity, not knowing which way was safe to take. If I spoke to any profit about humility I feared to be found lacking in it; [...]
"The monk who observes others instead of attending to himself will begin before long to see some as his superiors and others as his inferiors; in some he will see things to envy, in others, things to despise. The eyes have wandered and the mind soon follows." Source: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps [...]
"Of all his virtues, and he possessed them all, Christ specifically commends one to us, humility. 'Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart.'" Source: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride, Cistercian Publications (April 1, 1989)
"The only ones who can instruct the brethren are those who are merciful, those who are meek or humble. In other words, one cannot really be merciful if he is not humble." Source: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride (Note: This quote was incorrectly attributed to St. Augustine when it [...]
For what else is pride but, as a saint has defined it, the love of one’s own excellence. Source: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride (Note: This quote was incorrectly attributed to St. Augustine when it was initially posted here.)
"If you have eyes for the shortcomings of your neighbor and not for your own, no feeling of mercy will arise in you but rather indignation. You will be more ready to judge than to help, to crush in the spirit of anger than to instruct in the spirit of gentleness. 'You who are spiritual, [...]
"A man who does not live in harmony with his brothers, who mocks at those who weep and sneers at those who are glad, has no sympathy with them because their feelings do not affect him, he can never really see the truth in others. The proverb fits him well: the sound man feels not [...]
"We must look for truth in ourselves; in our neighbors; in itself. We look for truth in ourselves when we judge ourselves; in our neighbors when we have sympathy for their sufferings; in itself when we contemplate it with a clean heart." Source: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride (Note: [...]
"The first food, then, is humility: bitter but medicinal; the second is charity: sweet and soothing; the third is contemplation: solid and strength giving." Source: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride (Note: This quote was incorrectly attributed to St. Augustine when it was initially posted here.)