Mortification Quotes

“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls. Live in this, and thou wilt die a conqueror; yea, thou wilt, through the good providence of God, live to see thy lust dead at thy feet.”
― John Owen, The Mortification of Sin

“Pleasure, in itself harmless, may become mischievous, by endearing to us a state which we know to be transient and probatory, and withdrawing our thoughts from that of which every hour brings us nearer to the beginning, and of which no length of time will bring us to the end. Mortification is not virtuous in itself, nor has any other use, but that it disengages us from the allurements of sense. In the state of future perfection, to which we all aspire, there will be pleasure without danger, and security without restraint.”
― Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

“a sense of the love of Christ in the cross; lie at the bottom of all true spiritual mortification”
― John Owen, The Mortification of Sin

“Not to be daily employing the Spirit and new nature for the mortifying of sin is to neglect that excellent succor which God has given us against our greatest enemy. If we neglect to make use of what we have received, God may justly hold his hand from giving us more. His graces, as well as his gifts, are bestowed on us to use, exercise, and trade with. Not to be daily mortifying sin is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace, and love of God, who has furnished us with a principle of doing it.”
― John Owen, The Mortification of Sin

“In all outward aspects he remained patient and mild now, not caring even to speak against heretics; he knew that he was likely to die soon enough, but the prospect of death was not an unwelcome one (...). More retained his hair shirt as he dwelled in his chamber, and is reported to have whipped himself for penitence; he fasted on the appointed days, sang hymns and prayed both day and night.”
― Ackroyd Peter

“For true conversion doth not consist in putting away great and outward sins only, but in descending deeply into your own self, searching into the inmost recesses of the heart, the secrets and closets, all the windings and turnings thereof; changing and renewing them throughout, with the grace that is given you: and so, by faith, you are converted from self-love to Divine love; from the world and all worldly concupiscences, to a spiritual and heavenly life; and from a participation of the pomps and pleasures thereof, to participating the merits and virtues of Christ, by believing his word, and walking in his steps.”
― Johann Arndt, Johann Arndt: True Christianity

“When I am tempted and feel the power of sin and its tug on my affections, the gospel gives me something to say: 'Christ bled and died for this sin—I will therefore have nothing to do with it. I am now united to Christ by the indwelling of the Spirit—how can I drag him into my sin?”
― Sinclair B. Ferguson, Devoted to God

“I felt my mouth go dry, my throat constrict. What possible interpretation could Peter place on those words, other than that they were about him? - that the entire song was about him?”
― Jennifer Paynter, Mary Bennet

“Also, asceticism is all right when it is the proper means of attaining some special end. It is when it produces eructations of spiritual pride, and satisfied vanity, that it is poisonous. The Greek word means an athlete; and the training of an athlete is not mortification of the body. Nor is there any rule which covers all circumstances. When men go "stale" a few days before the race, they are "taken off training," and fed with champagne. But that is part of the training. Observe, too, that all men go "stale" sooner or later; training is abnormal, and must be stopped as soon as its object is attained. Even so, it too often strains vital organs, especially the heart and lungs, so that few rowing "Blues" live to be 50. But worst of all is the effect on the temper!

When it is permanent, and mistaken for a "Virtue," it poisons the very soil of the soul. The vilest weeds spring up; cruelty, narrowmindedness, arrogance—everything mean and horrible flowers in those who "Mortify the flesh." Incidentally, such ideas spawn the "Black Brother." The complete lack of humour, the egomaniac conceit, self-satisfaction, absence of all sympathy for others, the craving to pass their miseries on to more sensible people by persecuting them: these traits are symptomatic.”
― Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears

“The Holy Spirit is promised of God to be given to us, to do this work (of mortification). The taking away of the stony heart, that is, the stubborn, proud, rebellious, unbelieving heart, is, in general, the work of mortification that we treat of.”
― John Owen

“Dans les époques de stérilité, on devrait hiberner, dormir jour et nuit pour conserver ses forces, au lieu de les dépenser en mortifications et en rages.”
― Emil Cioran, Del inconveniente de haber nacido

“my principal fault was an unconquerable pitch of pride, which exposed me to frequent mortification.”
― Walter Scott

“Another sign of mortification’s importance: I don’t remember what I ate for dinner last Tuesday, and I regularly forget where I left my phone. But I can recall my every mortification as if it occurred moments ago. I know this because each evening when I finish reading for the night, I’ll turn off my bedside lamp, roll over onto my side, close my eyes, and my brain will say. “Oh, good evening. Should we play the blooper reel?” And I’ll say, “Ah, you know, I’d really rather not,” and my brain will say, “Excellent. Let’s begin in a high school auditorium outside of San Francisco.”
― john green, The Anthropocene Reviewed

“How can Sophie hate Josh tonight when Friday morning she loved him?' I ask. What I mean is How can I have had such strong feelings for Ethan when now I don't know what I feel aside from overwhelming mortification?”
― Erin McCahan, Love and Other Foreign Words

“My fear is that he'll forget me," she bemoaned with crystalline sadness. I took her hand, limp with loss and held it. "I'd rather not be remembered by any man as it saves me the embarrassment.”
― Donna Lynn Hope

“Katolska kyrkor är fyllda av bilder på människor som är heliga; helgonen bär ofta med sig något slags redskap. Om det är något som ser ut som en grill så är det för att helgonet blev torterat till döds genom att brännas levande. Det har alltid ansetts vackert av katoliker att hellre dö en plågsam död än att ändra åsikt. Den katoliker som till äventyrs inte hade någon plågoande, kunde själv plåga sig, till exempel genom att piska sig. Påven Clemens VI förbjöd självpiskandet 1349, men min mamma betraktade allt som hänt i katolska kyrkan efter 1300 som nymodigt trams. För henne var det självklart att man kunde visa sin kärlek till Gud genom att göra illa sig själv. Jag var för ung för att fråga henne hur det kunde komma sig att man fick piska Guds tempel, men var förbjuden att smeka det.”
― Augustin Erba, Blodsbunden

“Our assumptions and expressive elucidations of an intermeshed external universe make up our internal world of thought. How we perceive the world in turn makes up the continued evolution of the rust resistant self. Formulation of a mutable sense of self causes us humbly to take into account our human frailty. Active awareness of our feebleness provides us an apt sense of perspective that our personal wants and woes are trifle matters. While we routinely suppress the knowledge of our ultimate fate in order to maintain the steam to power through the turbulence of each day. The constant whisper of death advancing is what drives all people to perform acts that transcend the banality of everyday living and place an artistic stamp upon their lives. An ethical person attempts to live in that sweet spot half way between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“In the way of judgment this may be the case, and, if so, be it mine to consider the reason of such a visitation, and bear the rod and him that hath appointed it. I am not the only one who is chastened in the night season; let me cheerfully submit to the affliction, and carefully endeavour to be profited thereby. But the hand of the Lord may also be felt in another manner, strengthening the soul and lifting the spirit upward towards eternal things. O that I may in this sense feel the Lord dealing with me! A sense of the divine presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses its power over us; servant-body waits at the foot of the hill, and the master-spirit worships upon the summit in the presence of the Lord. O that a hallowed season of divine communion may be vouchsafed to me this evening! The Lord knows that I need it very greatly. My graces languish, my corruptions rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold; all these are reasons why his healing hand should be laid upon me. His hand can cool the heat of my burning brow, and stay the tumult of my palpitating heart. That glorious right hand which moulded the world can new-create my mind; the unwearied hand which bears the earth's huge pillars up can sustain my spirit; the loving hand which incloses all the saints can cherish me; and the mighty hand which breaketh in pieces the enemy can subdue my sins. Why should I not feel that hand touching me this evening? Come, my soul, address thy God with the potent plea, that Jesus' hands were pierced for thy redemption, and thou shalt surely feel that same hand upon thee which once touched Daniel and set him upon his knees that he might see visions of God.”
― Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Evening by Evening

“Let every lust be mortified, every duty performed, every grace exercised.”
― John Fox, Time and the End of Time: Discourses on Redeeming the Time and Considering Our Latter End

“My Feather Weight Heart!

It wasn’t this way clean and lightweight before,
It all started when I met the spiritual surgeon after,
It was filled with jealousy, greed, lust, stinginess and envy before,
It got cleaned when I started to meditate on the name of beloved after,
It was all dark filled with all black spots before,
It got lighter when the name of God entered after,
It was filled with hate towards oneself and others before,
It’s now filled with love towards oneself and others after,
It was disconnected from the truth of reality,
It’s now connected with reality of truth after,
It was once ignorant and arrogant before,
It is now awakened and mindful after,
It was out of the side of the truth of oneself before,
It is now in truth with insights of oneself after,
It was oppressive, aggressive, and transgressive before,
It is now submissive, merciful and compassionate after,
It was racist, filled with malice and hateful before,
It is now united, filled with love and acceptance after,
It was searching for the truth outside in the mosque, church, synagogues and temples before,
It is now in awareness of the temple inside me after,
It was not aware of God, temple of God (heart) and the soul before,
It is now when I met beloved reviving my dead heart after!”
― Aiyaz Uddin, The Inward Journey

“I was fighting the wrong battle,
I was ignorant of the enemy within,
I was my own hidden enemy,
I was my own misery and suffering,
I was fierce in pointing out the darkness outside,
I was unaware of the inward darkness,
I was searching for my truth elsewhere,
I was just looking at reality in the wrong way,
I was lost because I was looking somewhere,
I was found because I looked at I,
I was attached to the world,
So I couldn’t see the I,
I was detached from my reality,
I was enveloped in the body,
I would not have found I,
If I wouldn’t have got beloved’s grace upon I!”
― Aiyaz Uddin, The Inward Journey