Skip to content

Even though the eagle,
King of birds,
Can with his powerful sight
Gaze steadfastly upon
The brightness of the sun;
Yet do the weaker eyes of the bat
Fail and falter in the same.

— John Ruysbroeck

Another quote →

More quotes by John Ruysbroeck

We behold that which we are, and we are that which we behold.

Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness (1912)

Knowledge of ourselves teaches us whence we come, where we are, and whither we are going. We come from God, and we are in exile.

Ruysbroeck the Admirable (1925)

God contemplates Himself and all things in an Eternal Now that has neither beginning nor end.

The Spiritual Espousals (1340)

God in the depths of us receives God who comes to us: it is God contemplating God.

An Anthology of Mysticism and Mystical Philosophy (1927)

Then are we ravished out of self by purified Love, even to the Face of God, freed and emptied of every event and illusion. This is the contemplative life of highest price.

All John Ruysbroeck quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Ruysbroeck (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.