100 Spiritual Saint Quotes That Are Good for the Soul

These saint quotes, from some of the most known saints, and about saints, will help you keep you grounded.

Growing up Catholic, saints were a big part of my life; both at church and out of it.

The priest spoke of saints in the church service, we learned about them on Wednesday nights to prepare for our confirmation, and my grandma would pray to St. Anthony anytime she lost something.

Saints can be a bit confusing as according to the Catholic Church, a “saint” is anyone in heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not, who form the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1).

Normally, to become a saint though, there is a process.

Most often, a person must wait five years after their death, but the Pope can waive this requirement.

Once this initial process is approved, there is then an investigation into whether that person was a servant of God.

And then there is a congregation that meets to review the evidence.

In order to reach the next step, beatification, a miracle needs to be attributed to prayers made to the individual after their death.

Canonization is the last step and happens after a second miracle unless the person was a martyr, in which case only one miracle is required. 

Keep reading these saint quotes to nourish your soul and strengthen your faith.

Don’t forget to also check out these God’s plan quotes to inspire faith.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

If you enjoy this collection, check out our inspirational quotes category page.

Saint quotes about love

1. “Let us love, since that is what our hearts were made for.” — Saint Therese of Lisieux

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2. “Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.” — Saint Theresa of Calcutta

3. “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” — Saint Theresa of Calcutta

4. “Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.”  — Saint Augustine

5. “Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.” ― St. Rose of Lima

6. “The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.” ― St. Teresa Benedicta

7. “The things that we love tell us what we are.” — Saint Thomas Aquinas

8. “It is not so essential to think much as to love much.” — Saint Teresa of Jesus, OCD

9. “Teach us to give and not count the cost.” ― St. Ignatius de Loyola

10. “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” — Saint Augustine

11. “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.” — Saint Theresa of Calcutta

12. “But in the end, they were not called saints because of the way they died, or because of their visions or wondrous deeds, but because of their extraordinary capacity for the love and goodness, which reminded others of the love of God.” ― Robert Ellsberg

13. “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” ― St. Augustine

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Saint quotes about faith and God

14. “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” — Saint Augustine

15. “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” — Saint Augustine

16. “Take away from love the fullness of self-surrender, the completeness of personal commitment, and what remains will be a total denial and negation of it.” — Saint Pope John Paul II

17. “In a world gone astray from God there is no peace, but it also lacks charity, which is true and perfect love… Nothing is more beautiful than love. Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is, charity, will last for eternity.” ― Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

18. “A Christian martyrdom is never an accident, for Saints are not made by accident.” ― T. S. Eliot
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19. “While the world changes, the cross stands firm.” ― St. Bruno

20. “Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God if we have given what we could.” ― St. Gregory Nazianzen

21. “Out of one hundred thousand sinners who continue in sin until death, scarcely one will be saved.” ― Saint Jerome

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Wise quotes from and about saints

22. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.” ― Saint Augustine

23. “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” ― Saint Augustine

24. “Owning land is like owning the ocean, or the air. No one owns land.” ― St. Tammany

25. “The best way to prepare for death is to spend every day of life as though it were the last.” ― St. Philip Neri

26. “Many people genuinely do not wish to be saints, and it is possible that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never had much temptation to be human beings.” ― George Orwell

27. “Reflect carefully on this, for it is so important that I can hardly lay too much stress on it. Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you.” ― Saint Teresa of Avila

28. “You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.” ― St. Therese of Lisieux

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29. “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.” —  Saint Catherine of Siena

30. “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” ― Saint John Paul II

31. “Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes.” — St. Pio of Pietrelcina

32. “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!” ― St. Catherine of Sienna

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Saint quotes about sinning and judgment

33. “I am not a saint unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” ― Nelson Mandela

34. “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” ― Billy Joel

35. “There is no sin nor wrong that gives man such a foretaste of Hell in this life as anger and impatience.” ― St. Catherine of Siena

36. “No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead, what he judges better for someone else.” ― St. Benedict of Nursia

37. “Every disordered soul is its own punishment.” ― St. Augustine of Hippo

38. “Saints are sinners who kept on going.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

39. “Where sin was hatched, let tears now wash the nest.” ― St. Robert Southwell

40. “We do not know the number of souls that is ours to save through our prayers and sacrifices; therefore, let us always pray for sinners.” ― St. Faustina

41. “Enjoy yourself as much as you like—if only you keep from sin.” ― Saint John Bosco

42. “Satisfaction consists in the cutting off of the causes of the sin. Thus, fasting is the proper antidote to lust; prayer to pride, to envy, anger and sloth; alms to covetousness.” ― St. Richard of Chichester

Saint quotes about joy and happiness

43. “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” ― St. Therese of Lisieux
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44. “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.” ― Saint Francis of Assisi

45. “All the wealth in the world cannot be compared with the happiness of living together happily united.” ― Blessed Margaret d’Youville

46. “Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls.” ― Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

47. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” ― St. Francis

48. “It is characteristic of God and His angels to bring to the soul, when they occupy it, true happiness and spiritual joy; and to drive from it the sadness and trials which the enemy incites in it.” ― St. Ignatius of Loyola

49. “The happiness of man on earth, my children, is to be very good; those who are very good bless the good God, they love Him, they glorify Him, and do all their works with joy and love, because they know that we are in this world for no other end than to serve and love the good God.” ― St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney

50. “It is much better to obtain only an ounce of happiness in not risking our salvation, then one hundred pounds in hazarding it.” ― St. Ignatius of Loyola

More saint quotes and sayings

51. “There is nothing to unify God and the soul but the Cross.” – Louis de Wohl

52. “We are moved by self-interest, even when we seek to do good to others.” – Bangambiki Habyarimana

53. “What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” – Hans Urs von Balthasar

54. Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.” – Albert Schweitzer

55. “Better to illuminate than merely to shine to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.” – Thomas Aquinas

56. I understand once again that the greatness of God always reveals itself in the simple things.” – Paulo Coelho

57. “It is not what to do, but how much love we put into the doing. We can do not greats, only small things with great love.” – Mother Theresa

58. When a woman conceives her true self, a miracle occurs and life around her begins again.” – Marianne Williamson

59. “Spirituality exist in testing and experiencing the depth of inner peace consistently.” – Amit Ray

60. “A life contemplating the blessings of Christ becomes a life acting the love of Christ.” – Ann Voskamp

Saint quotes that ignites faith

61. “We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.” – St. Teresa of Avila

62. “Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors.”  – St. Therese of Lisieux

63. “You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy – the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud.” – St. Vincent de Paul

64. “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort me and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.” – St. Patrick

65. “It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world.” – St. Aloysius Gonzaga

66. “Only in Christ can men and women find answers to the ultimate questions that trouble them. Only in Christ can they fully understand their dignity as persons created and loved by God.” – Pope St. John Paul II

67. “Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God’s will.” – St. Francis de Sales

68. “Persevere in labors that lead to salvation. Always be busy in spiritual actions. In this way, no matter how often the enemy of our souls approaches, no matter how many times he may try to come near us, he’ll find our hearts closed and armed against him.” – St. Cyprian of Carthage

69. “We ought to speak, shout out against injustices, with confidence and without fear. We proclaim the principles of the Church, the reign of love, without forgetting that it is also a reign of justice.” – Blessed Miguel Pro

70. “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” – St. Pio of Pietrelcino

Saint Quotes That will Inspire Your Faith

71. “The more a man uses moderation in his life, the more he is at peace, for he is not full of cares for many things.” – St Anthony the Great

72. “The devil strains every nerve to secure the souls which belong to Christ. We should not grudge our toil in wresting them from Satan and giving them back to God.” – St Sebastian

73. “Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.” – St. Agnes of Rome

74. “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.” – St. Francis de Sales

75. “Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.” – St Angela Merici

76. “Grace is nothing else but a certain beginning of glory within us.” – St Thomas Aquinas

77. “To be a servant of Christ is to be truly free.” – St Agatha

78. “The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die.” – St Paul Miki

79. “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!” – St Josephine Bakhita

80. “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and He did listen.” – St Scholastica

Inspirational saint quotes

81. “The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic his giving, by grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves.” -Saint Nicholas

82. “Lord Jesus Christ, my God, I thank you for having firmly set my feet on the rock of the faith and directed my steps on the pathway of salvation.” -Saint Catherine

83. “We are not justified through ourselves, or through our wisdom or understanding or piety or deds which we accomplished in holiness of heart, but through the faith.” -Saint Clement

84. “I am God’s wheat and I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become the pure bread of Christ.” -Saint Ignatius

85. “All things pass; God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing. GOd alone suffices.” -Saint Teresa of Avila

86. “Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility there is neither anger nor vexation.” -Saint Francis of Assisi

87. “The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for a theologian to swim in without ever touching the bottom.” -Saint Jerome

88. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” -Saint Augustine

89. “Nothing is far from God.” – Saint Monica

90. “The piercing nail has become a key to unlock the door, that it might see the good will of the Lord God…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself…this is the great mystery of love.” – Saint Bernard

Saint Quotes To Inspire Spiritual Growth

91. “I want eternity. I was born for greater things.” — St. Stanislaus

92. “I die with joy, for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death. For those who live well in the world, death is not frightening, but sweet and precious.” — St. Rose of Viterbo

93. “May Christ be heard in our language, may Christ be seen in our life, may he be perceived in our hearts.” — St. Peter Damian

94. “If you have too much to do, with God’s help you will find time to do it all.” — St. Peter Canisius

95. “As soon as we know the will of God, we ought without delay to follow it.” — St. Paul of the Cross

96. “Look upon the poor with compassion and Jesus will look kindly upon you on your last day.” — St. Mary of the Cross

97. “Let us love the Cross very much, for it is there that we discover our life, our true love, and our strength in our greatest difficulties.” — St. Maria Goretti

98. “Jesus Christ is all my riches; he alone is sufficient for me.” — St. Louis of Toulouse

99. “Always forward, never back.” — St. Junipero Serra

100. “Act and God will act, work and He will work.” — St. Joan of Arc

Which of these saints quotes resonated with you best?

I already mentioned St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost items, but ask any Catholic and they can rattle off a saint for nearly any predicament.

If you are trying to sell your house, try praying to St Joseph.

Loneliness has you feeling blue?

Send out a prayer to St. Rita.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that if you are having relationship issues, a prayer to St. Valentine might be just the ticket.

Regardless of what might trouble you, your faith could help you get through it.

Martyred saints like, St. Dymphna, turned to their faith during some truly awful times.

This kind of faith has been comforting to many, and if you came here seeking some words of wisdom, then I hope you found them.

If you love spiritual quotes, you will also enjoy these Sister Joan Chittister quotes from the Benedictine nun.

Which of these saint quotes and sayings resonated with you best?

If you have any other saintly information, please leave it in the comment section below.