The Imitation of Christ
The Imitation of Christ is 62,678 words — about 4h 11m at 250 words per minute, across 120 chapters. Measure your own speed and read it here.
How long does it take to read The Imitation of Christ?
4h 11m at 250 words per minute
62,678 words · 120 chapters · counted from the full text, not estimated from a page count. Measure your own speed and this becomes your number.
Read The Imitation of Christ2.99 on its own · included with any membership · read a chapter first, free
How it opens
The treatise “Of the Imitation of Christ” appears to have been originally written in Latin early in the fifteenth century. Its exact date and its authorship are still a matter of debate. Manuscripts of the Latin version survive in considerable numbers all over Western Europe, and they, with the vast list of translations and of printed editions, testify to its almost unparalleled popularity. One scribe attributes it t…
Details
- AuthorThomas à Kempis
- SourceProject Gutenberg #1653
- Length62,678 words · 4h 11m of reading
- Chapters120
- DictionaryIncluded
- CopyrightPublic domain in the United States
- Source checked2026-08-28
Contents
120 chapters
Recovered from the original source text, so you can open the book at any of them.
- 01INTRODUCTORY NOTE
- 02CHAPTER I
- 03Of thinking humbly of oneself
- 04Of the knowledge of truth
- 05Of prudence in action
- 06Of the reading of Holy Scriptures
- 07Of inordinate affections
- 08Of fleeing from vain hope and pride
- 09Of the danger of too much familiarity
- 10Of Obedience and Subjection
- 11Of the danger of superfluity of words
- 12CHAPTER XI
- 13Of the uses of adversity
- 14Of resisting temptation
- 15On avoiding rash judgment
- 16Of works of charity
- 17Of bearing with the faults of others
- 18Of a Religious life
- 19Of the example of the holy fathers
- 20Of the exercises of a religious man
- 21Of the love of solitude and silence
- 22Of compunction of heart
- 23On the contemplation of human misery
- 24Of meditation upon death
- 25Of the judgment and punishment of the wicked
- 26Of the zealous amendment of our whole life
- 27Of the inward life
- 28Of lowly submission
- 29Of the good, peaceable man
- 30Of a pure mind and simple intention
- 31Of self-esteem
- 32Of the joy of a good conscience
- 33Of loving Jesus above all things
- 34Of the intimate love of Jesus
- 35Of the lack of all comfort
- 36Of gratitude for the Grace of God
- 37CHAPTER XI
- 38Of the royal way of the Holy Cross
- 39CHAPTER I
- 40CHAPTER II
- 41CHAPTER III
- 42A PRAYER FOR THE SPIRIT OF DEVOTION
- 43CHAPTER IV
- 44Of the wonderful power of the Divine Love
- 45Of the proving of the true lover
- 46A PRAYER TO BE ENABLED TO DO GOD’S WILL PERFECTLY
- 47CHAPTER XIX
- 48CHAPTER XX
- 49CHAPTER XXI
- 50Of the recollection of God’s manifold benefits
- 51Of four things which bring great peace
- 52A PRAYER AGAINST EVIL THOUGHTS
- 53A PRAYER FOR ENLIGHTENMENT OF THE MIND
- 54CHAPTER XXIV
- 55CHAPTER XXV
- 56CHAPTER XXVI
- 57CHAPTER XXVII
- 58A PRAYER FOR CLEANSING OF THE HEART AND FOR HEAVENLY WISDOM
- 59Against the tongues of detractors
- 60CHAPTER XXIX
- 61CHAPTER XXX
- 62CHAPTER XXXI
- 63Of self-denial and the casting away all selfishness
- 64CHAPTER XXXIII
- 65CHAPTER XXXIV
- 66CHAPTER XXXV
- 67Against vain judgments of men
- 68CHAPTER XXXVII
- 69CHAPTER XXXVIII
- 70That man must not be immersed in business
- 71CHAPTER XL
- 72Of contempt of all temporal honour
- 73CHAPTER XLII
- 74Against vain and worldly knowledge
- 75Of not troubling ourselves about outward things
- 76CHAPTER XLV
- 77CHAPTER XLVI
- 78CHAPTER XLVII
- 79CHAPTER XLVIII
- 80CHAPTER XLIX
- 81CHAPTER L
- 82CHAPTER LI
- 83CHAPTER LII
- 84CHAPTER LIII
- 85CHAPTER LIV
- 86CHAPTER LV
- 87CHAPTER LVI
- 88CHAPTER LVII
- 89CHAPTER LVIII
- 90CHAPTER LIX
- 91The Voice of Christ
- 92The Voice of the Disciple
- 93CHAPTER II
- 94CHAPTER IV
- 95The Voice of the Disciple
- 96CHAPTER V
- 97CHAPTER VII
- 98The Voice of the Beloved
- 99CHAPTER VIII
- 100The Voice of the Beloved
- 101CHAPTER IX
- 102The Voice of the Disciple
- 103CHAPTER X
- 104The Voice of the Beloved
- 105CHAPTER XI
- 106The Voice of the Disciple
- 107CHAPTER XII
- 108The Voice of the Beloved
- 109CHAPTER XIII
- 110The Voice of the Disciple
- 111CHAPTER XIV
- 112The Voice of the Disciple
- 113CHAPTER XV
- 114The Voice of the Beloved
- 115CHAPTER XVI
- 116The Voice of the Disciple
- 117CHAPTER XVII
- 118The Voice of the Disciple
- 119CHAPTER XVIII
- 120The Voice of the Beloved
More from the library
"De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries
A Child's Garden of Verses
A Modest Proposal: For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
A Tale of Two Cities
Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the Seven Against Thebes
The Imitation of Christ is public domain, and free at Project Gutenberg. Liminanotio is a word-at-a-time speed reader that runs in your browser, alongside the rest of the public-domain library.