Thomas à Kempis

German canon regular · Germany · Writers · Lived 1380 to 1471 · aged 91

Thomas à Kempis is read about 525 times a day, in 43 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 23 October 2026

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A German-Dutch canon who wrote The Imitation of Christ, one of the most widely read Christian devotional books ever produced - centuries of readers have turned to it for guidance on the inner life.

Religious Figures Writer / Author Literature Philosophy Poetry Religion Medieval Era

A life in dates

1471Died25 July 14711418“Whoever would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ, must endeavor to conform his life wholly to the life of Christ.”In their wordsBook I, ch. 1Read the whole statement

“What will it avail thee to dispute profoundly of the Trinity, if thou be void of humility, and art thereby displeasing to the Trinity?”In their wordsBook I, ch. 1Read the whole statement

“Be not high-minded, but rather confess thine ignorance.”In their wordsBook I, ch. 2Read the whole statement

“He who knoweth himself well is vile in his own sight”In their wordsBook I, ch. 2Read the whole statement

“Of a surety, at the Day of Judgment it will be demanded of us, not what we have read, but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how holily we have lived.”In their wordsBook I, ch. 3Read the whole statement

“He is truly great that is great in charity. He is truly great that is little in himself, and maketh no account of any height of honor.”In their wordsBook I, ch. 3Read the whole statement

1380Born

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Portret van Thomas à Kempis, RP-P-OB-26.661

Archive-ugent-be-2944A012-D468-11E7-AEDB-4B666EE4309A DS-1E370342-12C3-11E8-98A5-637515E3A8F4 (cropped)

Archive-ugent-be-2944A012-D468-11E7-AEDB-4B666EE4309A DS-1E370342-12C3-11E8-98A5-637515E3A8F4

Band van blank perkament-KONB12-145G10

Dat boek van der navolghinge ihesu Christi MET MM3007

Dat boek van der navolghinge ihesu Christi MET MM4642

Denkmal für den ehrwürdigen Diener Gottes Thomas a Kempis Cuypershuis 0420 ap (1)

Grab Thomas von Kempen

In their own words 10

Thomas à Kempis

10 statements, newest first

Whoever would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ, must endeavor to conform his life wholly to the life of Christ.
1418, Book I, ch. 1, Own words
If thou knewest the whole Bible by heart, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit thee without the love of God and without grace?
1418, Book I, ch. 1, Own words
What will it avail thee to dispute profoundly of the Trinity, if thou be void of humility, and art thereby displeasing to the Trinity?
1418, Book I, ch. 1, Own words

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About this person

Thomas à Kempis was born around 1380 in Kempen, Germany, and became a Catholic canon regular of the Augustinians. He joined the Congregation of Windesheim, an offshoot of the Brethren of the Common Life and part of the Modern Devotion, a reform movement that swept through the late medieval Church. There he followed the teachings of Geert Groote and Florens Radewyns, the movement's founders. Somewhere in those cloistered years he produced The Imitation of Christ, a work of devotional instruction that outlived its century by miles. He died on 1 May 1471, leaving behind a book that never quite went out of print.

Country

Germany

Writers from Germany 6

Golo Mann61.0

Hermann Hoth61.0

Hans-Ulrich Rudel61.0 Patrick Süskind61.0

Baron Munchausen61.0

Ernst Jünger60.7

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