title: Flores seu sententiae ex S. Bernardo

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 183, coll. 1197B–1204C

source_text:
## Flores seu sententiae ex S. Bernardo

[1197B] *1569* Periclitatur castitas in deliciis, humilitas in divitiis, pietas in negotiis, veritas in multiloquio, charitas in hoc nequam saeculo. *De convers. ad cler., num.* 37

Nihil pretiosius tempore: sed, heu! nihil hodie vilius aestimatur. *Tr. de cont. mun. ad cler., n.* 55

Transeunt dies salutis, et nemo recogitat: nemo sibi non reditura momenta perisse causatur. *Ibid.*

Nil tam durum, quod duriori non cedat. IV, *De consid., c. 3. Hinc consuetudo consuetudine vincitur.*

Tibi imputa, quidquid pateris ab eo, qui sine te potest nihil. IV *De cons. n.* 9.

Scorpioni non est in facie quod formides, sed pungit a cauda. *Ibid.*

[1197C]Quid juvat sapientem esse, si tibi non fueris? II, *De consid.* 2.

Omnia illi desunt, qui nihil sibi deesse putat. *Lib.* II, *De consid. cap.* 7.

Simia in tecto, rex fatuus in solio sedens. *Ibid.*

Tene medium, si non vis perdere modum. II, *De consid. cap.* 10.

Prosperitas hoc est incautis, quod ignis ad ceram, solis radius ad nivem. II, *De consid. cap.* 12.

Non magnum est esse humilem in abjectione; rara virtus, humilitas honorata. *Hom. 4 sup. miss.*

Nulla verior miseria, quam falsa laetitia. *De lib. arb., n.* 14.

Velle plane convincimur, quod non fieret si nollemus. [1197D] *Ibid.*

Effusus animus damna interiora non sentit. *De conv. ad. cler., cap. 4, n.* 5.

Fugere persecutionem, non est culpa fugientis, sed persequentis. *Epist.* 1.

Voluntas pro facto habetur, ubi factum excludit necessitas. *Tract. ad Hugon., n.* 9.

[1198B]Nemo magis iram meretur, quam amicum simulans inimicus. *De conv. n.* 33.

Non est cur fures timeant, qui sibi in coelo thesaurizant. *De conv. ad cler., n.* 41.

Non placat, qui ipse non placet. *Ibid.,* 33.

Insolentiae clericorum mater est negligentia episcoporum. *Epist.* 152.

Amicis oportet gerere morem, sed non in suam mortem. *Epist.* 215.

Fluminis aqua si stare coeperit, computrescit. *Serm. 1 de Quadrag.*

Omnia quae in mundo sunt, finem habent; finis autem eorum, non erit finis. *Serm. 9 in Cant.*

Dabis voci tuae vocem virtutis, si quod suades, prius tibi ipsi persuaseris. *Serm. 6 in Cant., n.* 3.

[1198C]Illius doctoris libenter audio vocem, qui non sibi plausum, sed mihi planctum moveat. *Ibid.*

Turturis vox non dulce sonat, sed dulcia signat. *Nempe amorem comparis. Ibid.*

Velis, nolis, intra fines tuos habitat Jebusaeus: subjugari potest, sed non exterminari. *Serm. 57 in Cant., num.* 10.

Parum est semel putasse; saepe putandum est, imo semper. *Ibid. Nam. vitia idemtidem repullulant.*

Non potest virtus cum vitiis pariter crescere; putetur cupiditas, ut virtus roboretur. *Ibid.*

Tolle superflua, et salubria surgunt. Utilitati accedit, quidquid cupiditati demis. *Ibid.*

[1198D]Pastor doctus, sed non bonus, non tam uberi doctrina nutrit, quam sterili vita nocet. *Serm. 76 in Cant., num.* 10.

Minus *quandoque* nocet potita votis ambitio, quam frustrata. *Epist. 126: Nam ad violenta media convertitur.*

*1570* Ad audiendum, legendumve amoris carmen [1199A] frustra qui non amat accedit. *Serm. 79 in Cant., n.* 1.

Non potest capere ignitum eloquium frigidum pectus. *Ibid. Sicut Graece loquentem non intelligit qui Graecum non novit.*

Fama non valet vindicare virtuti, quod esse vitium convincit conscientia. *Serm. 71 in Cant., n.* 2.

Virtus est contenta candore conscientiae, etsi non sequatur odor famae. *Ibid.*

Multa quae respuis otiosus, post laborem sumes cum desiderio. *Epist. 1, n. 11. Nam optimum cibi condimentum fames.*

Hostis audacius insistit a tergo, quam resistat in faciem. *Ibid., n.* 12.

[1199B]Facere malum, quolibet etiam jubente, non obedientia, sed inobedientia est. *Epist. 7. n. 3. Nempe erga Deum.*

Quod quisque prae caeteris colit, id sibi Deum constituisse probatur. *Tract. de contempt. mund. ad cler., cap. 5, num.* 17.

Multi non tanta alacritate currerent ad honores, si esse sentirent et onera. *Tract. de off. episc., cap.* 7.

Utinam relinquant nobis moderni Noe, unde a nobis possint operiri. *Ibid., n. 19, cap. 8. Adeo jam palam et sine pudore peccatur.*

In alto positum, non altum sapere, difficile. *Ibid.*

Si altiorem quam meliorem esse delectet, non praemium, sed praecipitium exspecta. *Epist. 27 ad [1199C] Ardut.*

Stultum, ibi thesaurum recondere, unde non valeas resumere, cum volueris. *Tract. de off. episc., cap.* 5.

Qualis sit cujusque fides, tribulatio probat. *Ibid., c.* 4.

Qui ad sui mensuram proximum jubetur diligere, prius seipsum diligere norit. *Ibid., cap. 4, n.* 13.

Bonam reddunt conscientiam poenitere de malis, et abstinere a malis. *Ibid., cap.* 4.

Eodem utuntur medici ferro secandis regibus, quo et popularibus hominibus. *Ibid., cap.* 2.

Boni pastoris est non quaerere quae sua sunt, sed impendere. IV, *De consid., cap.* 2.

Dispensatio sine necessitate et utilitate, non fidelis [1199D] dispensatio, sed crudelis dissipatio est. III, *De consid., cap.* 4.

Cum omnes te habeant, esto etiam tu unus ex habentibus. *Lib.* I *De consid., cap. 5. n.* 6.

Amans quandoque videtur amens, sed ei qui non amat. *Praefat.* in lib. *De consid.*

Modus diligendi Deum, est diligere sine modo. *Tract. de dilig. Deo, cap. 1 et* 6.

Non probo multa scientem, si sciendi modum nescierit. *Serm. 36 in Cant., n.* 3.

Sunt qui scire volunt tantum ut sciant; et curiositas est.

Sunt qui scire volunt ut sciantur ipsi; et vanitas est.

[1200A]Sunt qui scire volunt, ut scientiam vendant; et turpis quaestus est.

Sunt qui scire volunt, ut aedificentur; et prudentia est. *Serm. 36 in Cant., n.* 3.

Sumenti cibum, et non digerenti, perniciosum est ei. *Ibid., n.* 4.

Sine lumine discretionis incurrit qui currit. *Serm. in Circumcis.*

Non potest non esse bonus, qui placet bonis, vel displicet malis. *Epist.* 148.

Non est tutum vicino serpente somnum capere. *Ep.* 241.

Habet vero amicitia nonnunquam objurgationem, adulationem nunquam. *Epist.* 242.

Melius est, ut pereat unus quam unitas. *Epist. [1200B] 102. Ejiciendus qui turbat concordiam.*

*1571* Sola causa, qua non liceat obedire parentibus, Deus est. *Epist.* 111.

Gustato spiritu, necesse est desipere carnem. *Ibid.*

Non plus satiatur cor hominis auro, quam corpus aura. *De conv. ad cler.*

Argumentum superbiae, privatio est gratiae. *Serm. 54 in Cant.*

Praesto est oculus, cui omnia patent, etsi non patet ipse. *Serm. 55 in Cant.*

Bonus nunquam, nisi simulatione boni, deceptus est. *Serm. 66 in Cant.*

Haeretici capiantur non armis, sed argumentis. *Serm. 64 in Cant.* --Vid. notas, *ibid.*

Jucunda homini lux, sed magis emergenti de tenebris. [1200C] *Serm. 68 in Cant.*

Eruditio absque dilectione inflat, dilectio absque eruditione errat. *Serm. 69 in Cant.*

Dies palam facit, quod nox abscondit. *Serm. 75 in Cant.*

Melius est ut scandalum oriatur, quam veritas relinquatur. *Epist.* 78.

Qui se sibi magistrum constituit, stulto discipulum subdit. *Epist.* 87.

In similibus factis causa dissimilis simile recusat judicium. *Epist.* 84.

Nil tam inglorium, quam gloriae cupidum deprehendi. *Epist.* 106.

Speranti grandia, modica minus grata venire solent. *Epist.* 153.

[1200D]Currentem non apprehendit, qui et ipse non currit. *Epist. 254, n.* 4.

Nolle proficere, est deficere. *Ibid.*

Nemo invitus bene facit, etsi bonum est quod facit. *Epist.* 258.

Magnus, qui incidens in adversa, non excidit a sapientia. II. *De consid., cap.* 12.

Canis fenum, quod non comedit, defendit. *Epist. 311, num.* 1.

Si sapis, concham te exhibebis, non canalem. *Serm. 18 in Cant., num. 3, id est, Non prius effundes, quam ipsemet abundes.*

Pastores a mercenariis persecutio discernit. *De conv. ad cler., cap.* 22.

[1201A]Grata ignominia crucis ei, qui Crucifixo ingratus non est. *Serm. 25 in Cant., n.* 8.

Cum femina semper esse, et non peccare cum femina, plus est quam mortuum suscitare. *Serm. 65 in Cant., n.* 4.

Familiaris dominus fatuum nutrit servum. *Serm. cont. vit. ingrat.*

Divinae clementiae est denegare ingratis quae postulant. *Ibid. Nempe ne majoris ingratitudinis rei fiant.*

Suaviter natat, cujus alter sustinet mentum. *Serm. 12 in Cant., num.* 8.

Onerat nos Deus, cum exonerat; onerat beneficio, cum exonerat peccato. *Serm. 15 in psal.: Qui habitat, num.* 1.

[1201B]Contendamus placere omnibus per omnia, sed ei maxime qui est maximus super omnia. *Ibid., n.* 4.

Inanis excusatio de humana obedientia, ubi in Deum convincitur facta transgressio. *Epist. 7, n.* 8.

Quis credat parieti, si se dicat parturire radium, quem suscepit per fenestram. *Serm. 3 in Cant., n.* 5.

Non est laus calami laudabilis pictura, sive scriptura. *Ibid., n. 6, Serm. 18 de div.*

Sapiens est, cui quaeque res sapiunt, prout sunt.

Nullus tam gravis pruritus oculi, quam invidia est. *Serm. 5 de verb. Isa., n.* 10.

In terra orimur, in terra morimur, revertentes in eam unde sumus assumpti. *Serm. de S. Mart., n.* 1.

Res pauperum non pauperibus dare, par sacrilegio crimen esse dignoscitur. *Tract. de cont. mun. ad [1201C] cler., n.* 21.

Altiorem sortitus es locum, sed non tutiorem. *Epist.* 237.

Sicut non omne quod libet licet, sic non omne quod licet expedit. *Epist.* 25.

Cujus vita despicitur restat ut et praedicatio contemnatur. *Serm. 1, Pasch., n.* 10.

*1572* Non satis cecidisse piget, hominem, qui adhuc manet in lubrico. *Serm. 1 in Pasch., n.* 16.

Indicium verae compunctionis est, subtractio occasionis. *Ibid.*

Perniciosa paupertas, penuria meritorum; praesumptio autem, fallaces divitiae. *Serm. 68 in Cant., n.* 6.

Ignorantia non potest excusare eum, qui se magistrum [1201D] infantium profitetur. *Tract. de cont. mun. ad cler., cap. 5, n.* 15.

Indignus lacte et lana convincitur, qui non pascit oves. *Ibid.,* 20.

Vae tibi, clerice! mors in ollis earnium, mors in deliciis. *Ibid., n. 20. Nam peccata populi comedis.*

Vae, qui viventes in carne Deo placere non possunt, et placare praesumunt. *De conv. ad cler.*

Zelus absque scientia dum prodesse festinat, invenitur obesse. *Ibid., n.* 38.

Animam Dei capacem, quidquid Deo minus est, non implebit. *De cont. mun., n.* 33.

Saliens antequam videat, casurus antequam debeat. *Ibid.,* 26.

[1202A]Aeger sese non sentiens periculosius laborat. I, *De cons., c.* 1.

Homo si laborem refugit, non facit ad quod natus est. *De contemp. ad cler., n.* 29.

Sapientibus contingit, in rebus dubiis plus alieno se quam proprio credere judicio. *Epist. 82, n.* 1.

## Flores seu sententiae ex S. Bernardo (cont.)

Libenter carebo quantolibet spirituali quaestu, qui non possit acquiri nisi cum scandalo. *Epist.* 82.

Pulcher et salubris ordo, ut onus quod portandum imponis, tu portes prior. *Epist. 221, n.* 3.

Vocis virtus est opus, sed et operi, et voci gratiam efficaciamque promeretur oratio. *Ibid.*

Plus nocet falsus Catholicus, quam verus haereticus. *Serm. 65 in Cant., n.* 4.

Non inutilis commutatio, pro eo, qui super omnia [1202B] est, omnia reliquisse. *Tract. de cont. mun. ad cler., c.* 1.

Plus concupiscentia mundi, quam substantia nocet. *Ibid.*

Fugiendarum causa divitiarum est, quod aut vix, aut nunquam sine amore valeant possideri. *Ibid.*

Facile cor humanum omnibus quae frequentat adhaeret. *Ibid.*

Qui relinquere universa disponit, se quoque inter relinquenda numerare meminerit. *Ibid., n.* 2.

Verus amor habet praemium, sed id quod amatur. *Tract. de dilig. Deo, n.* 17.

Si quis de populo deviat, solus perit; principis error multos involvit. *Epist.* 117.

Verum gaudium est, quod non de creatura, sed [1202C] Creatore concipitur. *Epist.* 114.

Vitiosus conscientias vitiosorum non refugit. I, *De consid., cap.* 10.

Ubi omnes sordent, unius fetor non sentitur. *Ibid.*

Meditantibus honores blandiuntur, pensantibus onera formidini sunt. *Tract. de off. et mor. episc., cap.* 7.

Vera charitas vacua mercede non est, nec tamen mercenaria est. *Tract. de dilig. Deo, n.* 17.

Bonum servat castellum, qui custodit corpus suum. *Serm. 2 de Assumpt., num 2. Proverb. vulgare.*

Sola miseria caret invidia. *Serm 5 de verb. Isa.*

Maledictus qui partem suam facit deteriorem. [1202D] Lib. I *De consid. cap. 5, et serm. de septem panib.*

Seductori dat manum, qui dare dissimulat praeceptori. *Serm. 77 in Cant.*

Qui absque custode dimittit oves in pascua, pastor est non ovium, sed luporum. *Ibid., num.* 6.

Pauperum vita in plateis divitum seminatur. IV, *De cons., cap.* 2.

Ambitio ambientium crux, omnes torquens omnibus placet. III, *De consid., cap.* 1.

Nugae in ore saecularis, nugae; in ore sacerdotis blasphemiae. Lib. II, *De consid., cap.* 15.

Vanum cor vanitatis notam ingerit corpori. *Apol. ad Guil., cap.* 9.

Mollia indumenta animi mollitiem indicant. *Ibid.*

[1203A]Fulget Ecclesia in parietibus, et in pauperibus alget. *Apol. ad Guil., cap.* 11.

*1573* De sumptibus egenorum servitur oculis divitum. *Ibid.*

Lupi dentes plus timeo, quam virgam pastoris. *Tract. de vita et off. episc., n.* 35.

Hippocrates docet animas salvas facere in hoc mundo, Christus perdere. *Serm. 35 in Cant.*

Voluptas gutturis, quae tanti hodie aestimatur, vix duorum obtinet latitudinem digitorum. *De conv. ad cler., n.* 13.

Divitiarum amor insatiabilis longe amplius torquet desiderio, quam refrigeret usu. *Ibid.,* 14.

Divitiarum usus aliis fere; divitibus solum nomen et sollicitudo cedit. *Ibid.*

[1203B]Daemon soli perseverantiae potissimum insidiatur, quam solam virtutum novit coronari. *Epist.* 24.

Utilis semper custodia oris, quae tamen affabilitatis gratiam non excludat. IV, *De consid., cap. 6, n.* 23.

Ubique frenanda lingua praeceps, maxime autem in convivio. *Ibid.*

Ille convenientior babitus, si actu quidem severus sis, vultu serenus, verbo serius. *Ibid.*

Nil scalis opus tenenti jam solium. V, *De consid., n.* 1.

Detrahere, aut detrahentem audire, quid horum damnabilius sit, non facile dixerim. II, *De consid., n.* 22.

Deliberans providentia suspendit judicium. *Serm. [1203C] de S. Magdal., n.* 1, nunc tomo V.

Religiosa tristitia, aut alienum luget peccatum, aut proprium. *Ibid., n.* 2.

[1204A]Quanti te fecit Deus, ex his, quae pro te factus est, agnosce. *Serm. 1 de Epiph.*

*1574* Extremae dementiae est, quod ad obscena inverecundi sumus, et poenitentiam erubescimus: male proni in vulnera, in remedia verecundi. *Serm. in Circumc.*

Conservandae humilitatis gratia, sic divina solet ordinare pietas, ut quo quis plus proficit, eo minus se reputet profecisse. *Serm. 15 de div., n.* 4.

Placet utrumque Deo, et peccator compunctus, et justus devotus; displicet vero tam ingratus justus, quam peccator securus. *Serm. de div.,* 4.

Nescit sanus, quid sentiat aeger; aut plenus, quid patiatur jejunus. *Tract. de grad. hum., n.* 6.

Gloriosa res humilitas, qua ipsa quoque superbia [1204B] palliare se appetit, ne vilescat. *Ibid., n.* 47.

Infelix victoria, qua superans hominem, succumbis vitio. *Exhor. ad mil., n.* 2.

In circuitu impii ambulant; naturaliter appetentes unde finiant appetitum, et insipienter respuentes, unde appropinquent fini. *De dilig. Deo, n.* 19.

Deum amans anima aliud praeter Deum sui amoris praemium non requirit; aut si aliud requirit, illud, non Deum diligit. *Ibid., n.* 17.

Naturali desiderio summum quivis appetit bonum. Vis pervenire? incipe transilire. *Tract. de cont. mun. ad cler., n. 33. Nam si impliceris infimis, non pervenies.*

Anfractuosa via est, et inambulabilis; facilius pervenies spretis omnibus, quam adeptis. *Ibid.,* 33.

[1204C]Misera, et extremae plena dementiae commutatio, humanum declinare laborem, et cum diabolo stridorem eligere sempiternum. *Ibid.,* 27.

english:
## Flowers, or Sentences, from St. Bernard

[1197B] *1569* Chastity is in peril amid delights, humility amid riches, piety amid business, truth amid much speaking, charity in this wicked world. [f: *De convers. ad cler., num.* 37]

Nothing is more precious than time; but, alas! nothing today is reckoned cheaper. [f: *Tr. de cont. mun. ad cler., n.* 55]

The days of salvation pass, and no one thinks of it again; no one pleads that moments which will not return have perished for him. [f: *Ibid.*]

Nothing is so hard that it does not yield to something harder. [f: IV, *De consid., c.* 3.] Hence habit is conquered by habit.

Charge to yourself whatever you suffer from him who can do nothing without you. [f: IV *De cons. n.* 9.]

The scorpion has nothing in its face for you to dread, but it stings from the tail. [f: *Ibid.*]

[1197C]What good is it to be wise, if you have not been wise for yourself? [f: II, *De consid.* 2.]

All things are lacking to him who thinks that nothing is lacking to him. [f: *Lib.* II, *De consid. cap.* 7.]

An ape on the roof — a foolish king sitting on the throne. [f: *Ibid.*]

Keep the middle, if you do not wish to lose measure. [f: II, *De consid. cap.* 10.]

Prosperity is to the incautious what fire is to wax, and the sun's ray to snow. [f: II, *De consid. cap.* 12.]

It is no great thing to be humble in abasement; humility that is honored is a rare virtue. [f: *Hom. 4 sup. miss.*]

There is no truer misery than false gladness. [f: *De lib. arb., n.* 14.]

We are plainly convicted of willing what would not happen if we did not will it. [1197D] [f: *Ibid.*]

A mind poured out abroad does not feel its inward losses. [f: *De conv. ad. cler., cap. 4, n.* 5.]

To flee persecution is not the fault of the one fleeing, but of the one persecuting. [f: *Epist.* 1.]

The will is held for the deed, where necessity shuts out the deed. [f: *Tract. ad Hugon., n.* 9.]

[1198B]No one deserves anger more than an enemy feigning to be a friend. [f: *De conv. n.* 33.]

There is no reason for those to fear thieves who lay up treasure for themselves in heaven. [f: *De conv. ad cler., n.* 41.]

He does not please who is not himself pleasing. [f: *Ibid.,* 33.]

The mother of the insolence of clerics is the negligence of bishops. [f: *Epist.* 152.]

One ought to humor one's friends, but not to one's own death. [f: *Epist.* 215.]

If the water of a river begins to stand still, it rots. [f: *Serm. 1 de Quadrag.*]

All things that are in the world have an end; but their end will not be an end. [f: *Serm. 9 in Cant.*]

You will give to your voice the voice of power, if you have first persuaded yourself of what you urge. [f: *Serm. 6 in Cant., n.* 3.]

[1198C]I gladly hear the voice of that teacher who stirs not applause for himself, but lamentation in me. [f: *Ibid.*]

The voice of the turtledove does not sound sweetly, but it signifies sweet things. *Namely, love of its mate.* [f: *Ibid.*]

Will you or will you not, the Jebusite dwells within your borders: he can be subjugated, but not exterminated. [f: *Serm. 57 in Cant., num.* 10.]

It is little to have pruned once; one must prune often — indeed, always. [f: *Ibid.*] *For the vices [sic: idemtidem] sprout.*

Virtue cannot grow together with the vices; let cupidity be pruned, that virtue may be strengthened. [f: *Ibid.*]

Take away what is superfluous, and wholesome things rise up. Whatever you take from cupidity accrues to usefulness. [f: *Ibid.*]

[1198D]A shepherd who is learned but not good does not so much nourish by his rich teaching as harm by his barren life. [f: *Serm. 76 in Cant., num.* 10.]

Ambition that has obtained its wishes does *sometimes* less harm than ambition frustrated. [f: *Epist. 126:*] *For it turns to violent means.*

*1570* To hearing or reading the song of love [1199A] he comes in vain who does not love. [f: *Serm. 79 in Cant., n.* 1.]

A cold breast cannot take in fiery speech. [f: *Ibid.*] *Just as one who does not know Greek does not understand a man speaking Greek.*

Reputation cannot claim for virtue what conscience convicts of being vice. [f: *Serm. 71 in Cant., n.* 2.]

Virtue is content with the brightness of conscience, even if the fragrance of reputation does not follow. [f: *Ibid.*]

Many things which you spit out when idle, you will take up with longing after labor. [f: *Epist. 1, n.* 11.] *For hunger is the best seasoning of food.*

The enemy presses more boldly from behind than he withstands you to the face. [f: *Ibid., n.* 12.]

[1199B]To do evil, even at anyone's command, is not obedience but disobedience. [f: *Epist. 7. n.* 3.] *Namely, toward God.*

Whatever each man worships above the rest, he is shown to have set up as his God. [f: *Tract. de contempt. mund. ad cler., cap. 5, num.* 17.]

Many would not run to honors with such eagerness, if they felt that they are also burdens. [f: *Tract. de off. episc., cap.* 7.]

Would that the Noahs of our day might leave us something whereby they might be covered by us. [f: *Ibid., n. 19, cap.* 8.] *So openly and shamelessly is sin now committed.*

For one set on high, not to be high-minded is difficult. [f: *Ibid.*]

If it delights you to be higher rather than better, expect not a reward but a headlong fall. [f: *Epist. 27 ad*] [1199C] *Ardut.*

It is foolish to store up treasure in a place from which you cannot take it back when you wish. [f: *Tract. de off. episc., cap.* 5.]

Tribulation proves what each man's faith is. [f: *Ibid., c.* 4.]

He who is commanded to love his neighbor by his own measure should know first how to love himself. [f: *Ibid., cap. 4, n.* 13.]

To repent of evils, and to abstain from evils, makes the conscience good. [f: *Ibid., cap.* 4.]

Physicians use the same knife for cutting kings as for common men. [f: *Ibid., cap.* 2.]

It belongs to the good shepherd not to seek his own, but to spend himself. [f: IV, *De consid., cap.* 2.]

Stewardship without necessity and usefulness is not faithful [1199D] stewardship, but cruel squandering. [f: III, *De consid., cap.* 4.]

Since all men have you, be also yourself one of those who have you. [f: *Lib.* I *De consid., cap. 5. n.* 6.]

A lover sometimes seems out of his mind — but only to one who does not love. [f: *Praefat.* in lib. *De consid.*]

The measure of loving God is to love without measure. [f: *Tract. de dilig. Deo, cap. 1 et* 6.]

I do not approve a man who knows many things, if he has not known the measure of knowing. [f: *Serm. 36 in Cant., n.* 3.]

There are those who wish to know only that they may know; and this is curiosity.

There are those who wish to know that they themselves may be known; and this is vanity.

[1200A]There are those who wish to know that they may sell their knowledge; and this is shameful gain.

There are those who wish to know that they may be built up; and this is prudence. [f: *Serm. 36 in Cant., n.* 3.]

For one who takes food and does not digest it, it is ruinous to him. [f: *Ibid., n.* 4.]

Without the light of discretion, he who runs runs headlong. [f: *Serm. in Circumcis.*]

He cannot but be good who pleases the good, or displeases the wicked. [f: *Epist.* 148.]

It is not safe to take sleep with a serpent nearby. [f: *Ep.* 241.]

Friendship indeed has its rebuke now and then, but flattery never. [f: *Epist.* 242.]

It is better that one perish than unity. [f: *Epist.*] [1200B] *102. He who troubles concord is to be cast out.*

*1571* The only cause for which it is not lawful to obey parents is God. [f: *Epist.* 111.]

Once the spirit has been tasted, the flesh must lose its savor. [f: *Ibid.*]

The heart of man is no more sated with gold than the body with air. [f: *De conv. ad cler.*]

The proof of pride is the withdrawal of grace. [f: *Serm. 54 in Cant.*]

There is an eye at hand to which all things lie open, though it does not itself lie open. [f: *Serm. 55 in Cant.*]

A good man is never deceived except by the appearance of good. [f: *Serm. 66 in Cant.*]

Let heretics be caught not by arms, but by arguments. [f: *Serm. 64 in Cant.*] --See the notes, *ibid.*

Light is pleasant to a man, but more so to one emerging from darkness. [1200C] [f: *Serm. 68 in Cant.*]

Learning without love puffs up; love without learning goes astray. [f: *Serm. 69 in Cant.*]

The day makes plain what the night hides. [f: *Serm. 75 in Cant.*]

It is better that scandal arise than that truth be abandoned. [f: *Epist.* 78.]

He who sets himself up as his own master subjects himself as a disciple to a fool. [f: *Epist.* 87.]

In like deeds, an unlike cause refuses a like judgment. [f: *Epist.* 84.]

Nothing is so inglorious as to be caught being greedy for glory. [f: *Epist.* 106.]

To one hoping for great things, moderate things are wont to come as less welcome. [f: *Epist.* 153.]

[1200D]He does not overtake the runner who does not himself run also. [f: *Epist. 254, n.* 4.]

To be unwilling to advance is to fall back. [f: *Ibid.*]

No one does well unwillingly, even if what he does is good. [f: *Epist.* 258.]

Great is he who, falling into adversity, does not fall away from wisdom. [f: II. *De consid., cap.* 12.]

The dog guards the hay which he does not eat. [f: *Epist. 311, num.* 1.]

If you are wise, you will show yourself a basin, not a channel. [f: *Serm. 18 in Cant., num.* 3,] *that is, You will not pour out before you yourself abound.*

Persecution distinguishes shepherds from hirelings. [f: *De conv. ad cler., cap.* 22.]

[1201A]The ignominy of the cross is welcome to him who is not unthankful to the Crucified. [f: *Serm. 25 in Cant., n.* 8.]

To be always with a woman, and not to sin with the woman, is more than to raise the dead. [f: *Serm. 65 in Cant., n.* 4.]

A familiar master rears a foolish servant. [f: *Serm. cont. vit. ingrat.*]

It belongs to the divine clemency to deny the ungrateful what they ask. [f: *Ibid.*] *Namely, lest they become guilty of greater ingratitude.*

He swims pleasantly whose chin another holds up. [f: *Serm. 12 in Cant., num.* 8.]

God loads us when he unloads us; he loads us with a benefit when he unloads us of sin. [f: *Serm. 15 in psal.: Qui habitat, num.* 1.]

[1201B]Let us strive to please all men in all things, but most of all him who is greatest above all things. [f: *Ibid., n.* 4.]

Empty is the excuse of human obedience, where transgression against God is proved to have been committed. [f: *Epist. 7, n.* 8.]

Who would believe a wall, if it said that it was giving birth to the ray which it received through the window? [f: *Serm. 3 in Cant., n.* 5.]

A praiseworthy painting, or writing, is not the praise of the pen. [f: *Ibid., n. 6, Serm. 18 de div.*]

He is wise to whom each thing tastes as it is.

No itching of the eye is so grievous as envy is. [f: *Serm. 5 de verb. Isa., n.* 10.]

In earth we are born, in earth we die, returning into that from which we were taken. [f: *Serm. de S. Mart., n.* 1.]

To give the goods of the poor to those who are not poor is judged a crime equal to sacrilege. [f: *Tract. de cont. mun. ad*] [1201C] *cler., n.* 21.

You have obtained a higher place, but not a safer one. [f: *Epist.* 237.]

As not everything that pleases is lawful, so not everything that is lawful is expedient. [f: *Epist.* 25.]

When a man's life is despised, it remains that his preaching too be held in contempt. [f: *Serm. 1, Pasch., n.* 10.]

*1572* It does not sufficiently grieve a man to have fallen, while he still stands on slippery ground. [f: *Serm. 1 in Pasch., n.* 16.]

The sign of true compunction is the withdrawal of the occasion. [f: *Ibid.*]

Ruinous poverty is a scarcity of merits; but presumption is deceitful riches. [f: *Serm. 68 in Cant., n.* 6.]

Ignorance cannot excuse the man who professes himself a master [1201D] of little children. [f: *Tract. de cont. mun. ad cler., cap. 5, n.* 15.]

He is convicted of being unworthy of the milk and the wool who does not feed the sheep. [f: *Ibid.,* 20.]

Woe to you, cleric! death is in the pots [sic: *earnium*], death is in delights. [f: *Ibid., n.* 20.] *For you eat the sins of the people.*

Woe to those who, living in the flesh, cannot please God, and yet presume to appease him. [f: *De conv. ad cler.*]

Zeal without knowledge, while it hastens to profit, is found to harm. [f: *Ibid., n.* 38.]

Whatever is less than God will not fill a soul capable of God. [f: *De cont. mun., n.* 33.]

He who leaps before he sees will fall before he ought. [f: *Ibid.,* 26.]

[1202A]A sick man who does not feel himself sick suffers more dangerously. [f: I, *De cons., c.* 1.]

If a man flees labor, he does not do that for which he was born. [f: *De contemp. ad cler., n.* 29.]

It happens to wise men that in doubtful matters they trust another's judgment more than their own. [f: *Epist. 82, n.* 1.]

## Flowers, or Sentences, from St. Bernard (cont.)

Gladly will I go without any spiritual gain, however great, which cannot be acquired except with scandal. [f: *Epist.* 82.]

It is a fair and wholesome order that you should first carry yourself the burden which you lay on another to carry. [f: *Epist. 221, n.* 3.]

The power of the voice is the deed; but prayer earns grace and effectiveness both for the deed and for the voice. [f: *Ibid.*]

A false Catholic does more harm than a true heretic. [f: *Serm. 65 in Cant., n.* 4.]

It is no unprofitable exchange to have left all things for the sake of him who is [1202B] above all things. [f: *Tract. de cont. mun. ad cler., c.* 1.]

The coveting of the world does more harm than its substance. [f: *Ibid.*]

The reason for fleeing riches is that they can scarcely, or never, be possessed without love of them. [f: *Ibid.*]

The human heart easily clings to everything it frequents. [f: *Ibid.*]

He who purposes to leave all things should remember to number himself also among the things to be left. [f: *Ibid., n.* 2.]

True love has its reward — but that reward is the thing loved. [f: *Tract. de dilig. Deo, n.* 17.]

If one of the people goes astray, he perishes alone; the error of a prince involves many. [f: *Epist.* 117.]

True joy is that which is conceived not from the creature, but [1202C] from the Creator. [f: *Epist.* 114.]

The vicious man does not shun the consciences of the vicious. [f: I, *De consid., cap.* 10.]

Where all are filthy, the stench of one is not noticed. [f: *Ibid.*]

To those who dwell on them, honors are alluring; to those who weigh them, they are a thing of dread. [f: *Tract. de off. et mor. episc., cap.* 7.]

True charity is not empty of reward, and yet it is not mercenary. [f: *Tract. de dilig. Deo, n.* 17.]

He keeps a good stronghold who guards his own body. [f: *Serm. 2 de Assumpt., num* 2.] *A common proverb.*

Misery alone is free from envy. [f: *Serm 5 de verb. Isa.*]

Cursed is he who makes his own portion worse. [1202D] [f: Lib. I *De consid. cap. 5, et serm. de septem panib.*]

He gives his hand to the seducer who makes a pretense of giving it to his teacher. [f: *Serm. 77 in Cant.*]

He who lets the sheep go into the pastures without a keeper is a shepherd not of sheep but of wolves. [f: *Ibid., num.* 6.]

The life of the poor is sown in the streets of the rich. [f: IV, *De cons., cap.* 2.]

Ambition, the cross of the ambitious, tormenting all, pleases all. [f: III, *De consid., cap.* 1.]

Trifles in the mouth of a layman are trifles; in the mouth of a priest they are blasphemies. [f: Lib. II, *De consid., cap.* 15.]

A vain heart forces the mark of vanity upon the body. [f: *Apol. ad Guil., cap.* 9.]

Soft garments indicate softness of mind. [f: *Ibid.*]

[1203A]The Church shines in her walls, and goes cold in her poor. [f: *Apol. ad Guil., cap.* 11.]

*1573* At the expense of the needy, the eyes of the rich are served. [f: *Ibid.*]

I fear the teeth of the wolf more than the rod of the shepherd. [f: *Tract. de vita et off. episc., n.* 35.]

Hippocrates teaches men to save their souls in this world; Christ, to lose them. [f: *Serm. 35 in Cant.*]

The pleasure of the throat, which today is reckoned at so high a price, scarcely takes up the breadth of two fingers. [f: *De conv. ad cler., n.* 13.]

The insatiable love of riches torments far more by desire than it cools by use. [f: *Ibid.,* 14.]

The use of riches falls to others, generally; to the rich falls only the name and the anxiety. [f: *Ibid.*]

[1203B]The demon lies in wait chiefly for perseverance alone, which alone of the virtues he knows to be crowned. [f: *Epist.* 24.]

A guard upon the mouth is always useful — provided it does not shut out the grace of affability. [f: IV, *De consid., cap. 6, n.* 23.]

The headlong tongue is to be bridled everywhere, but most of all at a banquet. [f: *Ibid.*]

That [sic: *babitus*] is more fitting, if you are severe indeed in act, serene in countenance, and grave in word. [f: *Ibid.*]

There is no need of ladders for one who already holds the throne. [f: V, *De consid., n.* 1.]

To disparage, or to listen to one disparaging — which of these is the more damnable, I could not easily say. [f: II, *De consid., n.* 22.]

Deliberating foresight holds judgment in suspense. *Serm.* [1203C] [f: *de S. Magdal., n.* 1,] now in volume V.

Religious sorrow mourns either another's sin or its own. [f: *Ibid., n.* 2.]

[1204A]Learn from those things which he was made for you, how highly God has valued you. [f: *Serm. 1 de Epiph.*]

*1574* It is the utmost madness that we are unashamed toward obscene things, and blush at penitence: wrongly prone to wounds, and bashful toward remedies. [f: *Serm. in Circumc.*]

For the sake of preserving humility, the divine mercy is wont so to order things that the more a man advances, the less he reckons himself to have advanced. [f: *Serm. 15 de div., n.* 4.]

Both are pleasing to God: the sinner stricken with compunction, and the just man devout; but the ungrateful just man is as displeasing as the sinner untroubled. [f: *Serm. de div.,* 4.]

The healthy man does not know what the sick man feels, nor the full man what the fasting man suffers. [f: *Tract. de grad. hum., n.* 6.]

Humility is a glorious thing — with which pride itself also [1204B] seeks to cloak itself, that it may not become cheap. [f: *Ibid., n.* 47.]

Unhappy is that victory by which, overcoming a man, you succumb to a vice. [f: *Exhor. ad mil., n.* 2.]

The impious walk round about, naturally seeking that by which they may end their appetite, and foolishly spurning that by which they might draw near to the end. [f: *De dilig. Deo, n.* 19.]

The soul that loves God seeks no reward of its love other than God; or if it seeks something else, it loves that, not God. [f: *Ibid., n.* 17.]

By natural desire everyone seeks the highest good. Do you wish to arrive? Begin to leap across. [f: *Tract. de cont. mun. ad cler., n.* 33.] *For if you are entangled in the lowest things, you will not arrive.*

The way is winding, and cannot be walked; you will arrive more easily by despising all things than by obtaining them. [f: *Ibid.,* 33.]

[1204C]A wretched exchange, and full of the utmost madness: to shun human labor, and to choose everlasting gnashing with the devil. [f: *Ibid.,* 27.]