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Saint Basil Quotes

Powerful Saint Basil for Daily Growth

About Saint Basil

Saint Basil of Caesarea (329-379 AD), also known as Basil the Great, was a prominent early Christian theologian, monk, bishop, and social reformer. Born in Caesarea Mazaca (modern-day Kayseri, Turkey) around 329 AD, Basil was the eldest of three famous brothers – Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste – who were also influential figures in the early Christian Church. Basil's education began with grammar and rhetoric before he turned to religious studies, which led him to Athens where he encountered notable Christian philosophers like Gregory Nazianzen. Influenced by the teachings of Origen and other Cappadocian Fathers, Basil developed a deep understanding of theology and an ardent desire for monastic life. In 358 AD, Basil established the first cenobitic monastery in Asia Minor at Pontus Polemoniacus with his friend and fellow theologian Gregory of Nazianzus. This community was based on prayer, manual labor, and spiritual growth, setting a precedent for monasticism throughout Christianity. In 364 AD, Basil was ordained as Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca. During his episcopate, he focused on pastoral care, social welfare, and theological education. He wrote several influential works, including "On the Holy Spirit," "Against Eunomius," and "Rules for Monasteries." Basil's major contributions to Christian thought include his emphasis on the Trinity as three persons in one Godhead, his advocacy for monasticism as a means of spiritual growth, and his efforts to combine asceticism with active engagement in the world. His legacy continues to influence Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the wider Christian Church. Saint Basil was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1834, honoring him for his significant contributions to Christian theology and spirituality.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Not to share one's wealth with the poor is to steal from them and deprive them of life."

This quote emphasizes the moral responsibility each individual has towards the less fortunate in society. By hoarding wealth, an individual is effectively stealing from those in need, as they are being denied access to essential resources necessary for life. It underscores that wealth should be shared willingly and not kept exclusively, as it is intended for the betterment of humanity rather than personal gain.

"The whole life of the Church is nothing else but a continuous procession towards God, and to live is Christ, my dear brethren, is to walk in Him."

This quote by Saint Basil emphasizes that the Christian life should be a continuous journey towards God, with Jesus at the center. In essence, to live as a Christian is to follow the path of Christ, walking in His footsteps, and growing closer to God every day. It underscores the idea that our lives should always be oriented towards spiritual growth and union with God.

"The true fast is changed not by abstinence from meat, but by right conduct."

This quote by Saint Basil suggests that true fasting or spiritual growth isn't solely about abstaining from physical pleasures like food, but rather it's about practicing righteousness in actions and thoughts. It emphasizes the importance of ethical behavior and moral integrity as key components of a genuine spiritual journey.

"Let not your fasting be with the hypocrite, for an alms given among friends or a dinner returned, and all the other things you do when you see men, avail you nothing at all."

This quote by Saint Basil emphasizes the importance of sincerity in one's religious practices, particularly fasting. He warns against performing acts of piety superficially or for public recognition, as such actions are meaningless if they lack genuine intention. Instead, he encourages individuals to focus on acts of kindness, charity, and generosity within their relationships with friends, family, and the less fortunate, which have greater spiritual value. In essence, Saint Basil is urging people to prioritize inner sincerity over external displays of piety.

"The Holy Spirit was not distributed piecemeal; all received Him fully."

This quote by Saint Basil suggests that the Holy Spirit, as a divine gift, is given in full to every individual who receives it. In other words, the essence of the Holy Spirit is not portioned out or apportioned unequally. Instead, each person receives the same complete and undivided spiritual essence when they are baptized or otherwise receive the Holy Spirit. This underscores the idea that all individuals are equally deserving of God's grace and have equal potential for spiritual growth and enlightenment.

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.

- Saint Basil

Love, Friendship, Wisdom, Deeds

What is the benefit of fasting in our body while filling our souls with innumerable evils? He who does not play at dice, but spends his leisure otherwise, what nonsense does he not utter? What absurdities does he not listen to? Leisure without the fear of God is, for those who do not know how to use time, the teacher of wickedness.

- Saint Basil

Play, Dice, Use, Utter

Do not despise the fish because they are absolutely unable to speak or to reason, but fear lest you may be even more unreasonable than they by resisting the command of the Creator. Listen to the fish, who through their actions all but utter this word: 'We set out on this long journey for the perpetuation of our species.'

- Saint Basil

Reason, Through, Despise, Utter

Men whose sense of taste is destroyed by sickness, sometimes think honey sour. A diseased eye does not see many things which do exist, and notes many things which do not exist. The same thing frequently takes place with regard to the force of words, when the critic is inferior to the writer.

- Saint Basil

Taste, Notes, Same Thing, Critic

First and foremost, the monk should own nothing in this world, but he should have as his possessions solitude of the body, modesty of bearing, a modulated tone of voice, and a well-ordered manner of speech. He should be without anxiety as to his food and drink, and should eat in silence.

- Saint Basil

Voice, Own, Tone, Foremost

Liberated from the error of pagan tradition through the benevolence and loving kindness of the good God with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the operation of the Holy Spirit, I was reared from the very beginning by Christian parents. From them I learned even in babyhood the Holy Scriptures which led me to a knowledge of the truth.

- Saint Basil

Beginning, Through, Very, Lord Jesus

God who created us has granted us the faculty of speech that we might disclose the counsels of our hearts to one another and that, since we possess our human nature in common, each of us might share his thoughts with his neighbor, bringing them forth from the secret recesses of the heart as from a treasury.

- Saint Basil

Secret, Another, Our, Faculty

We glorify the Holy Ghost together with the Father and the Son, from the conviction that He is not separated from the Divine Nature; for that which is foreign by nature does not share in the same honors.

- Saint Basil

Nature, Holy, Which, Honors

No one who is in this world will deny that evils exist. What, then, do we say? That evil is not a living and animated substance, but a condition of the soul which is opposed to virtue and which springs up In the slothful because of their falling away from good.

- Saint Basil

Soul, Away, Springs, Animated

He who confesses magic or sorcery shall do penance for the time of murder, and shall be treated in the same manner as he who convicts himself of this sin.

- Saint Basil

Magic, Treated, Penance, Convicts

It is impious to say that evil has its origin from God, because naught contrary is produced by the contrary. Life does not generate death, nor is darkness the beginning of light, nor is disease the maker of health, but in the changes of conditions there are transitions from one condition to the contrary.

- Saint Basil

Death, Beginning, Origin, Generate

Among irrational animals the love of the offspring and of the parents for each other is extraordinary because God, who created them, compensated for the deficiency of reason by the superiority of their senses.

- Saint Basil

Love, Reason, Offspring, Deficiency

Do not measure your loss by itself; if you do, it will seem intolerable; but if you will take all human affairs into account you will find that some comfort is to be derived from them.

- Saint Basil

Moving On, Will, Some, Intolerable

As we were baptized, so we profess our belief. As we profess our belief, so also we offer praise. As then baptism has been given us by the Savior, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, so, in accordance with our baptism, we make the confession of the creed, and our doxology in accordance with our creed.

- Saint Basil

Father, Been, Profess, Savior

Any one who chooses will set up for a literary critic, though he cannot tell us where he went to school, or how much time was spent in his education, and knows nothing about letters at all.

- Saint Basil

Education, How Much Time, Chooses

All of us who desire the kingdom of God are, by the Lord's decree, under an equal and rigorous necessity of seeking after the grace of Baptism.

- Saint Basil

Desire, Baptism, Lord, Rigorous

We men are easily prone to sins of thought. Therefore, He who has formed each heart individually, knowing that the impulse received from the intention constitutes the major element in sin, has ordained that purity in the ruling part of our soul be our primary concern.

- Saint Basil

Soul, Thought, Purity, Primary

All who call the Holy Ghost a creature we pity, on the ground that, by this utterance, they are falling into the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against Him.

- Saint Basil

Falling, Against, Holy, Holy Ghost

Just as we would have no need of the farmer's labor and toil if we were living amid the delights of paradise, so also we would not require the medical art for relief if we were immune to disease, as was the case, by God's gift, at the time of Creation before the Fall.

- Saint Basil

Gift, Medical, Before, Relief

Strive to attain to the greater virtues, but do not neglect the lesser ones. Do not make light of a fall even if it be the most venial of faults; rather, be quick to repair it by repentance, although many others may commit a large number of faults, slight and grievous, and remain unrepentant.

- Saint Basil

Repair, Quick, Rather, Lesser

The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With us there is no nice enquiry as to its being formed or unformed.

- Saint Basil

Woman, Being, Unborn, Formed

Whatever requires an undue amount of thought or trouble or involves a large expenditure of effort and causes our whole life to revolve, as it were, around solicitude for the flesh must be avoided by Christians.

- Saint Basil

Thought, Expenditure, Amount, Flesh

If men are in a state in which they find it hard to be weaned from their own ways and choose rather to serve the pleasures of the flesh than to serve the Lord, and refuse to accept the Gospel life, there is no common ground between me and them.

- Saint Basil

Own, Lord, Rather, Flesh

In truth, to know oneself seems to be the hardest of all things. Not only our eye, which observes external objects, does not use the sense of sight upon itself, but even our mind, which contemplates intently another's sin, is slow in the recognition of its own defects.

- Saint Basil

Another, Use, Objects, External

Now, if you notice how the swan, putting its neck down into the deep water, brings up food for itself from below, then you will discover the wisdom of the Creator, in that He gave it a neck longer than its feet for this reason, that it might, as if lowering a sort of fishing line, procure the food hidden in the deep water.

- Saint Basil

Deep, Feet, Reason, Notice

There is nothing unpremeditated, nothing neglected by God. His unsleeping eye beholds all things.

- Saint Basil

God, Eye, Neglected, All Things

Good masters teach good doctrine, but that taught by evil masters is wholly evil.

- Saint Basil

Teach, Taught, Wholly, Doctrine

We do not accost a physician as we do any mere nobody; nor a magistrate as we do a private individual. We try to get some advantage from the skill of the one and the position of the other. Walk in the sun, and your shadow will follow you, whether you will or not.

- Saint Basil

Some, Other, Private, Physician

Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.

- Saint Basil

Rain, Brainy, Away, Curses

Indulging in unrestrained and immoderate laughter is a sign of intemperance, of a want of control over one's emotions, and of failure to repress the soul's frivolity by a stern use of reason.

- Saint Basil

Emotions, Reason, Over, Stern

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