Quotes about angels teach us various viewpoints from different spiritual instructors who have studied them.
When contemplating angels and the heavens, sometimes we choose to see ourselves as lowly and disconnected. Be encouraged. There are many different views about angels; however, the basic idea that spirits are interacting with us is the key to knowing we are not alone. Amazingly, a Baylor University study from 2008 showed that over half of Americans believe they are protected by angels that are around them.
When sharing different perspectives about the angelic, I often mention that I prefer to view angels as being the messengers in spirit who bring higher thoughts to humanity. Knowing that the spirits of people interact with the living, I have found that these enlightened souls often communicate ideas that both guide and inspire. This is, of course, in sharp contrast to messages conveyed by earthbound spirits -- ghosts. They are of a different state and not what I am writing about in this article.
To better reveal our thinking about angels, we found the following quotes to be helpful.
Angels & Quotes: What is an Angel?
According to St. Augustine, who I might not always agree with, to call a spirit an angel means to simply define the task that is being carried out:
"Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent. For the name angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit; you ask its office, it is that of an angel, which is a messenger." - St. Augustine
We like this definition, because as I mentioned before, people who speak with us from the other side of the grave are in essence, messengers...angels. They are from the light, having come from a higher perspective and place of understanding. This state of a being is different from the mind of lost spirits, who have not yet been freed from fear. (For more about this, read: What Are Angels?)
Angels & Quotes: What Do Angels Do?
To think that we are all alone and not having a greater audience around us might be a bit naive. Angels, I have come to find out, are with us whether we know it or not:
"We not only live among men, but there are airy hosts, blessed spectators, sympathetic lookers-on, that see and know and appreciate our thoughts and feelings and acts." - Henry Ward Beecher
"We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses." - Hebrews 12:1
"Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you." - St. Francis de Sales
Many a spiritual writer has known and shared this very idea of unseen spirits with us, maybe even in disguise:
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." - Hebrews 13:2
As I mentioned, we have others in spirit who are sharing thoughts and ideas with us:
"We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides."
- St. Thomas Aquinas
More Angel Quotes: How Do We Hear Angels?
Most of us have a myriad of thoughts that run through our brain daily. This chaos can muddle the ability to perceive the deeper thoughts that bubble forth from within a person:
"Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
When we learn to temporarily silence the mind, we tune-in to something greater deep inside of us. This is a great quote about angels and how they speak to us:
"For, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'And the angel that spoke in me, said to me...' He does not say, 'Spoke to me' but 'Spoke in me'..." - St. Augustine
And when we hear these greater ideas borne upon the wings of love, it is then that we know that we have touched something higher, something that brings peace. And if these messages can be brought to us by others in spirit, then we, too, might one day share the thoughts of enlightenment to others:
"Every man contemplates an angel in his future self." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels..." - Luke 20:36
Sometimes, we become so earthly-focused that we cannot wrap our minds around the idea that there is something much greater at work. It's within us and we are within it. This energy of which I write is all-loving, ever-forgiving, blissful, joyous and the truth of who we are. We are sons and daughters of this 'most high.'