Ponder the fact that God has made you a gardener, to root out vice and plant virtue.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
There is no perfect virtue-none that bears fruit- unless it is exercised by means of our neighbor.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Virtue becomes meaningful only when put into practice with others.
This quote emphasizes that true virtue is not just an abstract quality but is realized through our interactions and relationships with others. It suggests that the value of virtue is only evident when it is actively demonstrated in our dealings with our neighbors, highlighting the interconnectedness of human experience.
Themes
VirtueNeighborKindnessRelationshipsInterconnectedness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one might say, 'As St. Catherine of Siena reminds us, there is no perfect virtue unless it is exercised by means of our neighbor.'
More from St. Catherine Of Siena
All quotes →When it seems that God shows us the faults of others, keep on the safer side-it may be that your judgment is false. On your lips let silence abide. And any vice that you may ascribe to others, ascribe at once to them and yourself, in true humility. If that vice really exists in a person, he will correct himself better, seeing himself so gently understood, and will say of his own accord the thing that you would have said to him.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
O unfathomable depth! O Deity eternal! O deep ocean! What more could You give me than to give me Yourself?
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand. He uses both.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
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