110+ Francois FeNelon Quotes On Prayer, Spiritual And Devotional

Francois Fenelon was a French clergyman and writer who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was a leader of the Quietist movement, which stressed the inner spiritual life of the individual and the pursuit of a life of contemplation. He was one of the most influential spiritual writers of his time, and his works are still read today. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Francois FeNelon on prayer, spiritual, devotional.

Top 10 Francois FeNelon Quotes

1. Exactness and neatness in moderation is a virtue, but carried to extremes narrows the mind.
2. All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.
3. The art of cookery is the art of poisoning mankind, by rendering the appetite still importunate, when the wants of nature are supplied.
4. A general rule for the good use of time is to accustom oneself to live in a continual dependence on the Spirit of God.
5. All earthly delights are sweeter in expectation than in enjoyment; but all spiritual pleasures more in fruition than in expectation.
6. The more you say, the less people remember.
7. Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer.
8. Let gratitude for the past inspire us with trust for the future.
9. Listen less to your own thoughts and more to God's thoughts.
10. How can you expect God to speak in that gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections? Be silent and God will speak again.

Francois FeNelon Short Quotes

• Temptations are a file which rub off much of the rust of our self-confidence.
• The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become toward the defects of other people.
• Had we not faults of our own, we should take less pleasure in complaining of others.
• The best use one can make of his mind is to distrust it.
• The realization of God's presence is the one sovereign remedy against temptation.
• Frequently a big advantage can be gained by knowing how to give in at the right moment.
• Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent toward those of others.
• Simplicity is that grace which frees the soul from all unnecessary reflections upon itself.
• Courage is a virtue only so far as it is directed by prudence.
• Those who are wholly God's are always happy.

Francois FeNelon Quotes About Prayer

God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from listening to him — Francois FeNelon

How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak. — Francois FeNelon

Accustom yourself gradually to carry Prayer into all your daily occupation - speak, act, work in peace, as if you were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be. — Francois FeNelon

Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer, and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. — Francois FeNelon

Were in prayer, as indeed you ought to be. — Francois FeNelon

Prayer is so necessary, and the source of so many blessings, that he who has discovered the treasure cannot be prevented from having recourse to it, whenever he has an opportunity. — Francois FeNelon

He who prays without confidence cannot hope that his prayers will be granted. — Francois FeNelon

Speak, move, act in peace, as if you were in prayer. In truth, this is prayer. — Francois FeNelon

Time spent in prayer is never wasted. — Francois FeNelon

To pray is to desire; but it is to desire what God would have us desire. — Francois FeNelon

Francois FeNelon Quotes About Words

Genuine good taste consists in saying much in few words, in choosing among our thoughts, in having order and arrangement in what we say, and in speaking with composure. — Francois FeNelon

The more you say, the less people remember. The fewer the words, the greater the profit. — Francois FeNelon

Nothing is more despicable than a professional talker who uses his words as a quack uses his remedies — Francois FeNelon

The past but lives in written words: a thousand ages were blank if books had not evoked their ghosts, and kept the pale unbodied shades to warn us from fleshless lips. — Francois FeNelon

As long as anything in this world means anything to you, your freedom is only a word. You are like a bird that is held by a leash; you can only fly so far. — Francois FeNelon

Francois FeNelon Quotes About Soul

Peace does not dwell in outward things but within the soul; we may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence to, not an exemption from, suffering. — Francois FeNelon

Do not make best friends with a melancholy sad soul. They always are heavily loaded, and you must bear half. — Francois FeNelon

How different the peace of God from that of the world! It calms the passions, preserves the purity of the conscience, is inseparable from righteousness, unites us to God and strengthens us against temptations. The peace of the soul consists in an absolute resignation to the will of God. — Francois FeNelon

If we love Him infinitely more than we do ourselves, we make an unconditional sacr Here it is that the Spirit teaches us all truth; for all truth is eminently contained in this sacrifice of love, where the soul strips itself of every thing to present it to God. — Francois FeNelon

The presence of God calms the soul, and gives it quiet and repose. — Francois FeNelon

Alas! how many souls there are full of self, and yet desirous of doing good and serving God, but in such a way as to suit themselves; who desire to impose rules upon God as to His manner of drawing them to Himself. They want to serve and possess Him, but they are not willing to be possessed by Him. — Francois FeNelon

Nothing marks so much the solid advancement of a soul, as the view of one's wretchedness without anxiety and without discouragement. — Francois FeNelon

Carefully purify your conscience from daily faults; suffer no sin to dwell in your heart; small as it may seem, it obscures the light of grace, weighs down the soul, and hinders that constant communion with Jesus Christ which it should be your pleasure to cultivate. — Francois FeNelon

Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul. — Francois FeNelon

O God, the creature knows not to what end Thou hast made Him; teach him, and write in the depths of his soul that the clay must suffer itself to be shaped at the will of the potter. — Francois FeNelon

Francois FeNelon Quotes About Wars

All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers... Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born. — Francois FeNelon

The blood of a nation ought never to be shed except for its own preservation in the utmost extremity. — Francois FeNelon

All wars are civil ones; for it is still man spilling his own blood, tearing out his own bowels. — Francois FeNelon

Francois FeNelon Quotes About Love

I love my country better than my family; but I love humanity better than my country. — Francois FeNelon

That love of self, which the world advocates, is a thousand times more dangerous than any poison. — Francois FeNelon

Pure love is in the will alone; it is no sentimental love, for the imagination has no part in it; it loves, if we may so express it, without feeling, as faith believes without seeing. — Francois FeNelon

Can we be unsafe where God has placed us, and where He watches over us as a parent a child that he loves? — Francois FeNelon

Discouragement is simply the despair of wounded self-love. — Francois FeNelon

God's treasury where He keeps His children's gifts will be like many a mother's store of relics of her children, full of things of no value to others, but precious in His eyes for the love's sake that was in them. — Francois FeNelon

The history of the world suggests that without love of God there is little likelihood of a love for man that does not become corrupt. — Francois FeNelon

If the riches of the Indies, or the crowns of all the kingdom of Europe, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love of reading, I would spurn them all. — Francois FeNelon

When you come to be sensibly touched, the scales will fall from your eyes; and by the penetrating eyes of love you will discern that which your other eyes will never see. — Francois FeNelon

There is but one way in which God should be loved, and that is to take no step except with Him and for Him, and to follow with a generous self-abandonment every thing which He requires. — Francois FeNelon

Francois FeNelon Famous Quotes And Sayings

You can often help others more by correcting your own faults than theirs. Remember, and you should, because of your own experience, that allowing God to correct your faults is not easy. Be patient with people, wait for God to work with them as He wills. — Francois FeNelon

No more restless uncertainties, no more anxious desires, no more impatience at the place we are in; for it is God who has placed us there, and who holds us in his arms. Can we be unsafe where he has placed us? — Francois FeNelon

Resign every forbidden joy; restrain every wish that is not referred to God's will; banish all eager desires, all anxiety; desire only the will of God; seek him alone and supremely, and you will find peace. — Francois FeNelon

Let us pray God that He would root out of our hearts every thing of our own planting, and set out there, with His own hands, the tree of life, bearing all manner of fruits. — Francois FeNelon

Faith is letting down our nets into the transparent deeps at the Divine command, not knowing what we shall draw. — Francois FeNelon

Nothing will make us so charitable and tender to the faults of others, as, by self-examination, thoroughly to know our own. — Francois FeNelon

God bears with imperfect beings even when they resist His goodness. We ought to imitate this merciful patience and endurance. It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become toward the defects of other people. — Francois FeNelon

So long as we are full of self we are shocked at the faults of others. Let us think often of our own sin, and we shall be lenient to the sins of others. — Francois FeNelon

If we had strength and faith enough to trust ourselves entirely to God; and follow Him simply wherever He should lead us, we should have no need of any great effort of mind to reach perfection. — Francois FeNelon

If we were faultless we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate. — Francois FeNelon

The Christian life is a long and continual tendency of our hearts toward that eternal goodness which we desire on earth. All our happiness consists in thirsting for it. Now this thirst is prayer. Ever desire to approach your Creator, and you will never cease to pray. Do not think it necessary to pronounce many words. — Francois FeNelon

If God bores you, tell Him that He bores you, that you prefer the vilest amusements to His presence, that you only feel at your ease when you are far from Him. — Francois FeNelon

Most people I ask little from. I try to give them much, and expect nothing in return and I do very well in the bargain. — Francois FeNelon

As to our friend , I pray God to bestow upon him a simplicity that shall give him peace . Happy are they indeed who can bear their sufferings in the enjoyment of this simple peace and perfect acquiesence in the will of God. — Francois FeNelon

There is no true and constant gentleness without humility. While we are so fond of ourselves, we are easily offended with others. Let us be persuaded that nothing is due to us, and then nothing will disturb us. Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we will become indulgent towards those of others. — Francois FeNelon

I would have every minister of the gospel address his audience with the zeal of a friend, with the generous energy of a father, and with the exuberant affection of a mother. — Francois FeNelon

To will everything that God wills, and to will it always, in all circumstances and without reservations: that is the kingdom of God which is entirely within. — Francois FeNelon

We must truly serve those whom we appear to command; we must bear with their imperfections, correct them with gentleness and patience, and lead them in the way to heaven. — Francois FeNelon

Mankind, by the perverse depravity of their nature, esteem that which they have most desired as of no value the moment it is possessed, and torment themselves with fruitless wishes for that which is beyond their reach. — Francois FeNelon

When we are truly in this interior simplicity our whole appearance is franker, more natural. This true simplicity. . . makes us conscious of a certain openness, gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity. O, how amiable this simplicity is! Who will give it to me? I leave all for this. It is the pearl of the Gospel. — Francois FeNelon

Avoid all refined speculations; confine yourself to simple reflections, and recur to them frequently. Those who pass too rapidly from one truth to another feed their curiosity and restlessness; they even distract their intellect with too great a multiplicity of views. Give every truth time to send down deep root into the heart. — Francois FeNelon

The smallest things become great when God requires them of us; they are small only in themselves; they are always great when they are done for God. — Francois FeNelon

Blessed are the poor in spirit." Blessed are they who are stripped of every thing, even of their own wills, that they may no longer belong to themselves. — Francois FeNelon

In the light of eternity we shall see that what we desired would have been fatal to us, and that what we would have avoided was essential to our well-being. — Francois FeNelon

As a general rule, those truths which we highly relish, and which shed a degree of practical light upon the things which we are required to give up for God, are leadings of Divine grace, which we should follow without hesitation. — Francois FeNelon

God felt, God tasted and enjoyed is indeed God, but God with those gifts which flatter the soul, God in darkness, in privation, in forsakenness, in sensibility, is so much God, that he is so to speak God bare and alone. Shall we fear this death, which is to produce in us the true divine life of grace? — Francois FeNelon

Real friends are our greatest joy and our greatest sorrow. It were almost to be wished that all true and faithful friends should expire on the same day. — Francois FeNelon

When tempted, the shortest and surest way is to act like a little child at the breast; when we show it a frightful monster, it shrinks back and buries its face in its mother's bosom, that it may no longer behold it. — Francois FeNelon

We are never less alone than when we are in the society of a single, faithful friend; never less deserted than when we are carried in tne arms of the All-Powerful. — Francois FeNelon

God would behold in you a simplicity which will contain so much the more of His wisdom as it contains less of your own. — Francois FeNelon

God has not chosen to save us without crosses; as He has not seen fit to create men at once in the full vigor of manhood, but has suffered them to grow up by degrees amid all the perils and weaknesses of youth. — Francois FeNelon

The greatest defect of common education is, that we are in the habit of putting pleasure all on one side, and weariness on the other; all weariness in study, all pleasure in idleness. — Francois FeNelon

O Lord! take my heart, for I cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, O! keep it, for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me in spite of myself, for Jesus Christ's sake. — Francois FeNelon

God is our true Friend, who always gives us the counsel and comfort we need. Our danger lies in resisting Him; so it is essential that we acquire the habit of hearkening to His voice, or keeping silence within, and listening so as to lose nothing of what He says to us. — Francois FeNelon

A cross borne in simplicity, without the interference of self-love to augment it, is only half a cross. Suffering in this simplicity of love, we are not only happy in spile of the cross, but because of it; for love is pleased in suffering for the Well Beloved, and the cross which forms us into His image is a consoling bond of love. — Francois FeNelon

Children are excellent observers, and will often perceive your slightest defects. In general, those who govern children, forgive nothing in them, but everything in themselves. — Francois FeNelon

I am not in the least surprised that your impression of death becomes more lively, in proportion as age and infirmity bring it nearer. God makes use of this rough trial to undeceive us in respect to our courage, to make us feel our weakness, and to keep us in all humility in His hands. — Francois FeNelon

How desirable is this simplicity! Who will give it to me? I will quit all else; it is the pearl of great price. — Francois FeNelon

This poor world, the object of so much insane attachment, we are about to leave; it is but misery, vanity, and folly; a phantom--the very fashion of which "passeth away. — Francois FeNelon

You really don't even own the present moment, for even this belongs to God. — Francois FeNelon

Worry is the cross which we make for ourselves by over anxiety. — Francois FeNelon

I would have no desire other than to accomplish thy will. Teach me to pray; pray thyself in me. — Francois FeNelon

It is often our own imperfection which makes us reprove the imperfection of others; a sharp-sighted self-love of others — Francois FeNelon

Sordid and infamous sensuality, the most dreadful evil that issued from the box of Pandora, corrupts every heart, and eradicates every virtue. Fly! wherefore dost thou linger? Fly, cast not one look behind thee; nor let even thy thought return to the accursed evil for a moment. — Francois FeNelon

The greater our dread of crosses, the more necessary they are for us. — Francois FeNelon

The wind of God is always blowing... but you must hoist your sail. — Francois FeNelon

Thou lovest like an infinite God when Thou lovest; Thou movest heaven and earth to save Thy loved ones. Thou becomest man, a babe, the vilest of men, covered with reproaches, dying with infamy and under the pangs of the cross; all this is not too much for an infinite love. — Francois FeNelon

It is better to die than to tell a lie — Francois FeNelon

True piety hath in it nothing weak, nothing sad, nothing constrained. It enlarges the heart; it is simple, free, and attractive. — Francois FeNelon

Even if no command to pray had existed, our very weakness would have suggested it. — Francois FeNelon

To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid “big” sins-is this passionate, wholehearted love for God? — Francois FeNelon

Oh! how seldom the soul is silent, in order that God may speak. — Francois FeNelon

Fear is like the strong medicine used to fight serious diseases; it purges, but it also alters your temperament and wears out the body organs. A person who is driven by fear will always be the weaker for it — Francois FeNelon

There is no real elevation of mind in a contempt of little things; it is, on the contrary, from too narrow views that we consider those things of little importance which have in fact such extensive consequences. — Francois FeNelon

We may as well tolerate all religions, since God Himself tolerates all. — Francois FeNelon

I no longer desire anything but to be Thine. — Francois FeNelon

People who have no secrets from each other never want for a subject of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back, neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God. — Francois FeNelon

The youth who, like a woman, loves to adorn his person, has renounced all claim to wisdom and to glory; glory is due to those only who dare to associate with pain, and have trampled pleasure under their feet. — Francois FeNelon

Life Lessons by Francois FeNelon

1. Francois Fenelon teaches us to be humble and to focus on our spiritual development. He encourages us to be content with what we have and to strive for inner peace.
2. He reminds us to be kind and generous to those around us, and to act with integrity and compassion in all our dealings.
3. He also teaches us to be patient and to trust in God's plan, knowing that all things will work out in the end.