Johannes Tauler Quotes

In wanting, a man knows himself better than in having, since, in the absence of temporal things, man is better prepared for the reception of eternal things.

As long as a man has, he must give. And when he has nothing more, he is free. This freedom is far nobler than the former giving, for he no longer gives in accident but in essence, and he no longer gives one gift, but all gifts, and he no longer gives to just one man, but to all men.

The first type of captivity consists in man’s dependence on creatures, animate or inanimate, when he loves them without reference to God.