John Chrysostom Quotes
John Chrysostom, the Golden-Mouthed, was an early Christian preacher, archbishop of Constantinople, and one of the most important Fathers of the Greek-speaking Church. After ascetic training in Antioch, he served for many years as a celebrated preacher there before being made archbishop of the imperial capital in 397. The quotes below are attributed to John Chrysostom, organized by topic.
Browse John Chrysostom by topic
John Chrysostom on Death
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“Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness. Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free.”
Wikiquote -
“By descending into hades , He made hades captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. ... It took a body, and met God face to face. ... Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept.”
Paschal Homily Both English Wikipedia and English Wikisource contain the whole text of this homily. In Byzantine Rite churches, the whole homily is read out annually as part of Paschal Matins service.
John Chrysostom on God
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Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find him in the chalice.”
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“Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. … On this account Stephen said: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, you always resist the Holy Spirit", not only by transgressing the Law but also by wishing to observe it at the wrong time.”
Eight Homilies Against the Jews , Homily 1 -
“The Priest is the common father, as it were, of all the world; it is proper therefore that he should care for all, even as God, Whom he serves.”
Wikiquote
John Chrysostom on Justice
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“The Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.”
Wikiquote
John Chrysostom on Knowledge
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“O most grateful burden, which comforts them that carry it! The burdens of earthly masters gradually wear out the strength of those who carry them; but the burden of Christ assists the bearers of it, because we carry not grace, but grace us.”
Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 98 -
“Discourse 2 on the Rich Man and Lazarus , Chapter 6”
I beg that, chiefest of all, you will remember constantly that not to share our own riches with the poor is a robbery of the poor , and a depriving them of their livelihood; and that that which we possess is not only our own, but also theirs. If our minds are disposed in accordance with this truth, we shall freely use all our possessions; we shall feed Christ while hungering here, and we shall lay -
“Eight Homilies Against the Jews , Homily 1”
Nothing is more miserable than those people who never failed to attack their own salvation. When there was need to observe the Law, they trampled it under foot. … On this account Stephen said: "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, you always resist the Holy Spirit", not only by transgressing the Law but also by wishing to observe it at the wrong time. -
“Paschal Homily Both English Wikipedia and English Wikisource contain the whole text of this homily. In Byzantine Rite churches, the whole homily is read out annually as part of Paschal Matins service.”
By descending into hades , He made hades captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. ... It took a body, and met God face to face. ... Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, h
John Chrysostom on Life
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“Nothing does so much turn our life upside down, as delay and procrastination in the performance of our good works. Nay, this has often caused us to lose all.”
Homily 16 on Matthew , 13.
John Chrysostom on Love
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“Nothing is so apt to draw men under teaching, as to love, and be loved.”
Homily 6 on First Timothy
John Chrysostom on Mind
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“I do not think there are many among Bishops that will be saved, but many more that perish : and the reason is, that it is an affair that requires a great mind.”
Homily III on Acts 1:12
John Chrysostom on Politics
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Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.”
John Chrysostom on Truth
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Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“Words are the mirror of the soul.”
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“I beg that, chiefest of all, you will remember constantly that not to share our own riches with the poor is a robbery of the poor , and a depriving them of their livelihood; and that that which we possess is not only our own, but also theirs. If our minds are disposed in accordance with this truth, we shall freely use all our possessions; we shall feed Christ while hungering here, and we shall lay up great treasures there.”
Discourse 2 on the Rich Man and Lazarus , Chapter 6
John Chrysostom on Virtue
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Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“Wealth is sin's nurse.”
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Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“He who is not angry when there is just cause is sinful.”
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Attributed to John Chrysostom:
“Almsgiving is the queen of virtues.”
Things actually not said by John Chrysostom
A number of widely-shared lines are circulated as John Chrysostom but are in fact from someone else. Did John Chrysostom say these? No. Each entry below pairs the line with the person who actually wrote it.
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Did John Chrysostom say this? No.
“What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colors!”
This quote is commonly attributed to philosophers but its actual source is uncertain or unverified in the standard reference works. Wikiquote's note on this attribution: The quote is attributed to Chrysostom in the Malleus Maleficarum (Part I, Question VI), published by Heinrich Kramer in 1486. He cites Chrysostom's homily on Matthew ch. 19 (which would be his Homily LXII on Matthew ), but no such quote appears in the homily.