Thomas the Apostle quotes
The best-known lines of Thomas the Apostle from The Gospel of Thomas, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Acts of Thomas, each with the book and section it comes from, so you can read it in context.
- 1
“For whoever has not known himself has known nothing, but whoever has known himself has at the same time already achieved knowledge of the depth of all things.”
- 2
“The Kingdom is inside you, and it is outside you. When you come to know yourselves, you will be known, and you will understand that you are the children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, you live in poverty, and you are that poverty.”
- 3
“The savior answered and said, ‘Blessed is the wise man who sought after the truth, and when he found it, he rested upon it forever and was unafraid of those who wanted to disturb him.’”
- 4
“I set out to gain a disciple and I find that I have a master.”
- 5
“For men, in their error, have overlooked you, but you have not overlooked them.”
- 6
“Come out of the darkness, so that the light may receive you.”
- 7
“Jesus said, ‘Love your brother like your own soul, and guard him like the pupil of your eye.’”
- 8
“Blessed are you who weep and are oppressed by those who have no hope, for you will be released from every bondage.”
- 9
“Jesus said, ‘No prophet is accepted in his own village; no physician heals those who know him.’”
- 10
“Jesus said, ‘What you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from your rooftops. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, or sets it in a hidden place. Rather, they put it on a lampstand so that everyone who comes and goes will see its light.’”
- 11
“He said to them, ‘What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.’”
- 12
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.’”
- 13
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed is the man who has suffered and found life.’”
- 14
“Jesus, who rested from the weariness of the road like a man, and walked on the waves like a God.”
- 15
“Jesus said, There was a rich man who had much money. He said, 'I shall put my money to use so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouse with produce, so that I shall lack nothing.' Such were his intentions, but that same night he died.”
- 16
“Jesus said, ‘Show me the stone that the builders have rejected. That one is the cornerstone.’”
- 17
“You are not seen by our bodily eyes, yet you are never hidden from the eyes of our soul; in your appearance you are concealed, but in your works you are made known to us.”
- 18
“Jesus said, ‘If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.’”
- 19
“Jesus said, ‘If you have money, do not lend it at interest. Instead, give it to someone from whom you will not get it back.’”
- 20
“Jesus said, Do not worry from morning to night and from night to morning about what you will eat or what you will wear. You are worth far more than the lilies, which neither card nor spin.”
- 21
“At once I remembered that I was a son of kings, and my freedom longed for its own kind.”
- 22
“Your wealth will pass away, your beauty will fade, your fine robes and all your great works will come to nothing, and you will be left alone and naked with your sins.”
- 23
“My priests will have no peace among themselves, but will offer sacrifice to me with deceitful hearts; therefore I will not look upon them.”
- 24
“The house of the Lord will be left desolate, and its altars will be held in contempt, so that spiders spin their webs across them.”
- 25
“Woe to those who build, for they will not live in what they have built. Woe to those who break up the fallow ground, for they will labor for nothing.”
- 26
“Thomas answered, Therefore I say to you, Lord, that those who speak about things that are invisible and difficult to explain are like those who shoot their arrows at a target at night.”
- 27
“You, Lord, are the one who reveals hidden mysteries and makes secret words known.”
- 28
“Some time later, Jesus was again walking through the village when a child ran into him and knocked against his shoulder. Jesus was angered and said to him: You will not complete your journey. And the child fell down at once and died.”
- 29
“Therefore it is said: everyone who seeks the truth from true wisdom will make himself wings so as to fly, fleeing the lust that scorches the spirits of men.”
- 30
“The first heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll and shall straightway vanish.”
- 31
“At the fourth hour the vault of heaven will be split open from east to west. The angels of heaven will look down upon the earth through that opening in the sky.”
- 32
“Thomas said to him, ‘Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like.’”
- 33
“But Jesus looked at the teacher Zacchaeus and said to him: You do not even know the Alpha according to its true nature — so how can you teach others the Beta?”
- 34
“Jesus said, ‘I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.’”
- 35
“You alone are the God of truth, and there is no other. You are the one who knows all things hidden from the many. You, Lord, are the one who in all things shows compassion and spares mankind.”
- 36
“The darkness has risen around you like light, for you surrendered your freedom for servitude.”
- 37
“For he is not won over by gifts, that you should offer them to him, nor does he need sacrifices, that you should sacrifice to him. But look to him, and he will not overlook you; and turn to him, and he will not forsake you.”
- 38
“Jesus said, ‘Woe to the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen — it neither eats itself nor lets the oxen eat.’”
- 39
“My letter, my awakener, I found before me on the road, and just as its voice had awakened me, so now its light led me onward, shining ahead of me, and with its voice it steadied my fear, and with its love it drew me forward.”
- 40
“Glory to your greatness that was made small for us. Glory to your most high kingship that was humbled for us. Glory to your might that was made weak for us.”
- 41
“And a voice was heard saying: Amen. Fear not, but only believe.”
- 42
“He said, ‘When you strip off your clothes without being ashamed, and take your garments and lay them on the ground and tread on them as little children do — then you will see the child of the Living One, and you will not be afraid.’”
Free for 3 months
200,000+ classics. Every format, free to start.
eBooks and 15-minute summaries, and any book printed at cost, large print too.
Start freeRenews every year · Cancel anytime
The Gospel of Thomas, complete
Read it, hear the audiobook, and order the printed book, large print included, at cost.
Try 3 months free
