Anthony the Great quotes

. . . you should know that there is present with you the angel whom God has appointed for each man. . . This angel, who is sleepless and cannot be deceived, is always present with you; he sees all things and is not hindered by darkness. You should know, too, that with him is God. (Anthony the Great)
The truly blessed are not the ones who can work miracles or see angels; the truly blessed are the ones who can see their own sins.
Anthony the Great
Intelligent men have no need to listen to much talk, but should attend only to that which is profitable and guided by God's will.
Anthony the Great
Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.
Anthony the Great
Abba Anthony said, "A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, 'You are mad, you are not like us.'"
Anthony the Great
To say that God turns away from the sinful is like saying that the sun hides from the blind.
Anthony the Great
Death, when understood by men, is deathlessness: but, when not understood by the foolish, it is death. It is not this death that must be feared, but the loss of the soul, which is ignorance of God.
Anthony the Great
The person who abides in solitude and quiet is delivered from fighting three battles: hearing, speech, and sight. Then there remains one battle to fight-the battle of the heart.
Anthony the Great
One should not say that it is impossible to reach a virtuous life; but one should say that it is not easy. Nor do those who have reached it find it easy to maintain.
Anthony the Great
Whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.
Anthony the Great
God's Providence controls the universe. It is present everywhere. Providence is the sovereign Logos of God, imprinting form on the unformed materiality of the world, making and fashioning all things. Matter could not have acquired an articulated structure were it not for the directing power of the Logos Who is the Image, Intellect, Wisdom, and Providence of God. (Anthony the Great)
I am going the way of my fathers, as the Scripture says, for I see myself called by the Lord. Be you wary and undo not your long service of God, but be earnest to keep your strong purpose, as though you were but now beginning. You know the demons who plot against you, you know how savage they are and how powerless; therefore, fear them not. Let Christ be as the breath you breathe; in Him put your trust. Live as dying daily, heeding yourselves and remembering the counsels you have heard from me. ... So do you also be earnest always to be in union first with the Lord and then with the Saints, that after death, they also may receive you into everlasting tabernacles as known friends. Ponder these things, and mean them. ... And now God save you, children, for Antony departs and is with you no more.
Anthony the Great
All sins are abominable before God, but most abominable of all is the pride of the heart.
Anthony the Great
The fruits of the earth are not brought to perfection immediately, but by time, rain and care; similarly, the fruits of men ripen through ascetic practice, study, time, perseverance, self-control and patience.
Anthony the Great
Whoever hammers a lump of iron, first decides what he is going to make of it, a scythe, a sword, or an axe. Even so we ought to make up our minds what kind of virtue we want to forge or we labour in vain.
Anthony the Great
If we would despise the enemy, our thoughts must always be of God and our souls always glad with hope.
Anthony the Great
Hate the world and all that is in it. Hate all peace that comes from the flesh. Renounce this life, so that you may be alive to God.
Anthony the Great
To those who have an active belief, reasoned proofs are needless and probably useless.
Anthony the Great
Expect temptation to your last breath.
Anthony the Great
Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside, we will lose our interior watchfulness.
Anthony the Great
To one whose mind is sound, letters are needless. (Anthony the Great)