John Climacus Quotes
John Climacus, also known as John of the Ladder, was a Byzantine Christian monk and philosopher of the late sixth and early seventh centuries, abbot of the monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai, and the author of one of the most influential works of Christian spiritual philosophy ever written. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, organized into thirty steps in honor of the years of Christ's hidden life, traces the path of the monk from the renunciation of the world through the conquest of the passions to the perfection of love, in a sustained and humane analysis of the inner life that has shaped Eastern Orthodox spirituality for fourteen centuries. The quotes below are attributed to John Climacus, organized by topic.
John Climacus on Death
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“In hastening to solitude and exile, do not wait for world-loving souls, because the thief comes unexpectedly. In trying to save the careless and indolent along with themselves, many perish with them, because in course of time the fire goes out. As soon as the flame is burning within you, run; for you do not know when it will go out and leave you in darkness. Not all of us are required to save others. The divine Apostle says, ... "Thou therefore who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" This is like saying: I do not know whether we must teach others; but teach yourselves at all costs.”
3:4
John Climacus on God
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Attributed to John Climacus:
“Each rung of the ladder is climbed by labor; the ladder itself is given by grace.”
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Attributed to John Climacus:
“Stillness is not the absence of speech; it is the presence of God.”
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Attributed to John Climacus:
“Tears in the spiritual life are a form of sight.”
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“Even if glory is God-given, yet it is excellent to divert it from oneself with the shield of humility.”
3:21 -
“A monastery is an earthly heaven.”
4:87
John Climacus on Happiness
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“Drive away with the hand of humility every transitory joy, as being unworthy of it, lest by readily admitting it you receive a wolf instead of a shepherd.”
7:57
John Climacus on Justice
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“I will not be silent about something which it is not right to leave in silence lest I should inhumanly keep to myself what ought to be made known.”
4:110
John Climacus on Knowledge
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“Obedience is the tomb of the will and the resurrection of humility.”
4:3 -
“Baptism is the washing away of evils that were in us before, but sins committed after baptism are washed away by tears.”
7:6
John Climacus on Love
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Attributed to John Climacus:
“Love is the queen of the virtues; without her, all the others are slaves to themselves.”
John Climacus on Mind
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“The man who associates with people of the world or approaches them after his renunciation will certainly either fall into their traps or will defile his heart by thinking about them; or if he is not defiled himself yet by condemning those who are defiled, he too will himself be defiled.”
3:24 -
“Constantly wrestle with your thought, and whenever it wanders call it back to you”
4:92
John Climacus on Truth
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“He whose will and desire in conversation is to establish his own opinion, even though what he says is true, should recognize that he is sick with the devil's disease.”
4:48
John Climacus on Virtue
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Attributed to John Climacus:
“What you renounce is not what you lose; it is the door to what you have not yet found.”