Thomas Merton Quotes

Top 100 wise famous quotes and sayings by Thomas Merton

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Thomas Merton Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Thomas Merton on Wise Famous Quotes.

Thomas Merton quotes: We do not exist for ourselves. We do not exist for ourselves.
Thomas Merton quotes: A bad book about the love of God remains a bad book. A bad book about the love of God remains a bad book.
Thomas Merton quotes: If we have not silence, God is not heard in our music. If we have no rest God, does not bless our work. If we have not silence, God is not heard in our music. If we have no rest God, does not bless our work.
Thomas Merton quotes: What we have to be is what we are. What we have to be is what we are.
Thomas Merton quotes: Love is free; it does not depend on the desirability of its object, but loves for love's sake. Love is free; it does not depend on the desirability of its object, but loves for love's sake.
Thomas Merton quotes: The only unhappiness is not to love God. The only unhappiness is not to love God.
Thomas Merton quotes: Ash Wednesday is full of joy ... The source of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust. Ash Wednesday is full of joy ... The source of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust.
Thomas Merton quotes: Meditation is one of the ways in which the spiritual man keeps himself awake. Meditation is one of the ways in which the spiritual man keeps himself awake.
Thomas Merton quotes: No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers. No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers.
Thomas Merton quotes: Violence is essentially wordless. and it can begin only where thought and rational communication have broken down. Violence is essentially wordless. and it can begin only where thought and rational communication have broken down.
Thomas Merton quotes: I myself am part of the weather and part of the climate and part of the place ... It is certainly part of my life of prayer. I myself am part of the weather and part of the climate and part of the place ... It is certainly part of my life of prayer.
Thomas Merton quotes: Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring. Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring.
Thomas Merton quotes: The fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the wind, and join in the general Dance. The fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the wind, and join in the general Dance.
Thomas Merton quotes: Charity is without fear: having given all that it has, it has nothing left to lose. Charity is without fear: having given all that it has, it has nothing left to lose.
Thomas Merton quotes: There is not true intimacy between souls who do not know how to respect one another's solitude. There is not true intimacy between souls who do not know how to respect one another's solitude.
Thomas Merton quotes: Our minds are like crows. They pick up everything that glitters, no matter how uncomfortable our nests get with all that metal in them. Our minds are like crows. They pick up everything that glitters, no matter how uncomfortable our nests get with all that metal in them.
Thomas Merton quotes: effort is necessary, enlightened, well-directed and sustained. effort is necessary, enlightened, well-directed and sustained.
Thomas Merton quotes: Love is a special way of being alive. Love is a special way of being alive.
Thomas Merton quotes: To place your trust in visible things is to live in despair. To place your trust in visible things is to live in despair.
Thomas Merton quotes: The religious answer is not really religious if it's not fully real. Evasion is the answer of superstition. The religious answer is not really religious if it's not fully real. Evasion is the answer of superstition.
Thomas Merton quotes: In the spiritual life there is no such thing as an indifference to love or hate. In the spiritual life there is no such thing as an indifference to love or hate.
Thomas Merton quotes: The real reason why so few men believe in God is that they have ceased to believe that even a God can love them. The real reason why so few men believe in God is that they have ceased to believe that even a God can love them.
Thomas Merton quotes: Father," I answered, "I want to give God everything. Father," I answered, "I want to give God everything.
Thomas Merton quotes: By faith we know God without seeing Him. By hope we possess God without feeling His presence. By faith we know God without seeing Him. By hope we possess God without feeling His presence.
Thomas Merton quotes: The man of faith who has never experienced doubt is not a man of faith. The man of faith who has never experienced doubt is not a man of faith.
Thomas Merton quotes: Just remaining quietly in the presence of God, listening to Him, being attentive to Him, requires a lot of courage and know-how. Just remaining quietly in the presence of God, listening to Him, being attentive to Him, requires a lot of courage and know-how.
Thomas Merton quotes: Love not only prefers the good of another to my own, but it does not even compare the two. Love not only prefers the good of another to my own, but it does not even compare the two.
Thomas Merton quotes: Technology is not in itself opposed to spirituality and to religion. But it presents a great temptation. Technology is not in itself opposed to spirituality and to religion. But it presents a great temptation.
Thomas Merton quotes: Hope deprives us of everything that is not God, in order that all things may serve their true purpose as means to bring us to God. Hope deprives us of everything that is not God, in order that all things may serve their true purpose as means to bring us to God.
Thomas Merton quotes: My best writing has always been in journals. My best writing has always been in journals.
Thomas Merton quotes: The problem today is that there are no deserts, only dude ranches. The problem today is that there are no deserts, only dude ranches.
Thomas Merton quotes: We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us. We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.
Thomas Merton quotes: Here is an unspeakable secret: paradise is all around us and we do not understand. Here is an unspeakable secret: paradise is all around us and we do not understand.
Thomas Merton quotes: Those who think they 'know' from the beginning will never in fact come to know anything. Those who think they 'know' from the beginning will never in fact
come to know anything.
Thomas Merton quotes: The truth never becomes clear as long as we assume that each one of us, individually, is the center of the universe. The truth never becomes clear as long as we assume that each one of us, individually, is the center of the universe.
Thomas Merton quotes: The only way to make a man worthy of love is by loving him. The only way to make a man worthy of love is by loving him.
Thomas Merton quotes: I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns: that is a penance You do not ask of me. I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns: that is a penance You do not ask of me.
Thomas Merton quotes: To be ordinary is not a choice: It is the usual freedom of men without visions. To be ordinary is not a choice: It is the usual freedom of men without visions.
Thomas Merton quotes: To be unknown to God is entirely too much privacy. To be unknown to God is entirely too much privacy.
Thomas Merton quotes: He excels in giving irrelevant information. He excels in giving irrelevant information.
Thomas Merton quotes: If there was no other proof of the infinite patience of God, a very good one could be found in His toleration of the pictures that are painted of Him. If there was no other proof of the infinite patience of God, a very good one could be found in His toleration of the pictures that are painted of Him.
Thomas Merton quotes: No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees. No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.
Thomas Merton quotes: Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.
Thomas Merton quotes: The sacred attitude is, then, one of deep and fundamental respect for the real in whatever new form it may present itself. The sacred attitude is, then, one of deep and fundamental respect for the real in whatever new form it may present itself.
Thomas Merton quotes: Grains of error planted innocently in a well-kept greenhouse can become giant poisonous trees. Grains of error planted innocently in a well-kept greenhouse can become giant poisonous trees.
Thomas Merton quotes: Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself. He is not at peace with himself because he is not at peace Man is not at peace with his fellow man because he is not at peace with himself. He is not at peace with himself because he is not at peace with God.
Thomas Merton quotes: the humble man takes whatever there is in the world that helps him to find God and leaves the rest aside. He the humble man takes whatever there is in the world that helps him to find God and leaves the rest aside. He
Thomas Merton quotes: The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow. The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow.
Thomas Merton quotes: My mother was informing me, by mail, that she was about to die, and would never see me again. My mother was informing me, by mail, that she was about to die, and would never see me again.
Thomas Merton quotes: It can be said, without fear of error, that our meditation is as good as our faith. It can be said, without fear of error, that our meditation is as good as our faith.
Thomas Merton quotes: Love triumphs, at least in this life, not by eliminating evil once for all, but by resisting and overcoming it anew every day. Love triumphs, at least in this life, not by eliminating evil once for all, but by resisting and overcoming it anew every day.
Thomas Merton quotes: Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God. Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God.
Thomas Merton quotes: Life reveals itself to us only in so far as well live it. Life reveals itself to us only in so far as well live it.
Thomas Merton quotes: And that is why the man who wants to see clearly, before he will believe, never starts on the journey. And that is why the man who wants to see clearly, before he will believe, never starts on the journey.
Thomas Merton quotes: The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little. The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.
Thomas Merton quotes: Actions are the doors and windows of being. Unless we act, we have no way of knowing what we are. Actions are the doors and windows of being. Unless we act, we have no way of knowing what we are.
Thomas Merton quotes: The light of truth burns without a flicker in the depths of a house that is shaken with storms of passion and fear. The light of truth burns without a flicker in the depths of a house that is shaken with storms of passion and fear.
Thomas Merton quotes: God Himself begins to live in me not only as my Creator but as my other and true self. God Himself begins to live in me not only as my Creator but as my other and true self.
Thomas Merton quotes: Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ. Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ.
Thomas Merton quotes: Zen is consciousness unstructured by particular form or particular system, a trans-cultural, trans-religious, transformed consciousness. Zen is consciousness unstructured by particular form or particular system, a trans-cultural, trans-religious, transformed consciousness.
Thomas Merton quotes: But there is greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question. But there is greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question.
Thomas Merton quotes: The peculiar grace of a shaker chair is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing that an angel might come and sit on it. The peculiar grace of a shaker chair is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing that an angel might come and sit on it.
Thomas Merton quotes: How can I be sincere if I am constantly changing my mind to conform with the shadow of what I think others expect of me? How can I be sincere if I am constantly changing my mind to conform with the shadow of what I think others expect of me?
Thomas Merton quotes: There is, in a word, nothing comfortable about the Bible... There is, in a word, nothing comfortable about the Bible...
Thomas Merton quotes: The greatest temptations are not those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great evils masking as the greatest goods. The greatest temptations are not those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great evils masking as the greatest goods.
Thomas Merton quotes: God, have mercy on me in the blindness in which I hope I am seeking You! God, have mercy on me in the blindness in which I hope I am seeking You!
Thomas Merton quotes: I don't even need to know precisely what I am doing, except that I am acting for the love of God. I don't even need to know precisely what I am doing, except that I am acting for the love of God.
Thomas Merton quotes: When we are strong, we are always much greater than the things that happen to us. When we are strong, we are always much greater than the things that happen to us.
Thomas Merton quotes: We believe, not because we want to know, but because we want to be. We believe, not because we want to know, but because we want to be.
Thomas Merton quotes: Today the artist has inherited the combined functions of hermit, pilgrim, prophet, priest, shaman, sorcerer, soothsayer, alchemist. Today the artist has inherited the combined functions of hermit, pilgrim, prophet, priest, shaman, sorcerer, soothsayer, alchemist.
Thomas Merton quotes: Our sorry idiot life, our idiot existence, idiot not because it has to be but because it is not what it could be with a little more courage and care. Our sorry idiot life, our idiot existence, idiot not because it has to be but because it is not what it could be with a little more courage and care.
Thomas Merton quotes: We refuse love, and reject society, in so far as it seems, in our own perverse imagination, to imply some obscure kind of humiliation We refuse love, and reject society, in so far as it seems, in our own perverse imagination, to imply some obscure kind of humiliation
Thomas Merton quotes: Love is its own reward ... Love is its own reward ...
Thomas Merton quotes: True happiness is found in unselfish Love, A love which increases in proportion as it is shared. True happiness is found in unselfish Love, A love which increases in proportion as it is shared.
Thomas Merton quotes: It is a terrible thing to think of the grace that is wasted in this world, It is a terrible thing to think of the grace that is wasted in this world,
Thomas Merton quotes: We put words between ourselves and things. We put words between ourselves and things.
Thomas Merton quotes: Violence is not completely fatal until it ceases to disturb us. Violence is not completely fatal until it ceases to disturb us.
Thomas Merton quotes: Pride makes us artificial; humility makes us real Pride makes us artificial; humility makes us real
Thomas Merton quotes: For the ones who are called saints by human opinion on earth may very well be devils, and their light may very well be darkness For the ones who are called saints by human opinion on earth may very well be devils, and their light may very well be darkness
Thomas Merton quotes: There must be a time of day when the man who makes plans forgets his plans, and acts as if he had no plans at all. There must be a time of day when the man who makes plans forgets his plans, and acts as if he had no plans at all.
Thomas Merton quotes: Those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything. Those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything.
Thomas Merton quotes: The truth that many people never understand until it is too late is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer. The truth that many people never understand until it is too late is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer.
Thomas Merton quotes: When you reread your journal you find out that your newest discovery is something you already found out five years ago. When you reread your journal you find out that your newest discovery is something you already found out five years ago.
Thomas Merton quotes: In the end, it's the reality of personal realtionships that save everything. In the end, it's the reality of personal realtionships that save everything.
Thomas Merton quotes: Into this world, this demented innin which there is absolutely no room for him at all,Christ comes uninvited. Into this world, this demented inn
in which there is absolutely no room for him at all,
Christ comes uninvited.
Thomas Merton quotes: Humility is the surest sign of strength. Humility is the surest sign of strength.
Thomas Merton quotes: To be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy. To be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy.
Thomas Merton quotes: If you found God with great ease, perhaps it's not God that you have found. If you found God with great ease, perhaps it's not God that you have found.
Thomas Merton quotes: The God of peace is never glorified by human violence. The God of peace is never glorified by human violence.
Thomas Merton quotes: As soon as one is conscious of the presence of the Master, one must, in all passivity, abandon the work to Him. As soon as one is conscious of the presence of the Master, one must, in all passivity, abandon the work to Him.
Thomas Merton quotes: The tighter you squeeze, the less you have. The tighter you squeeze, the less you have.
Thomas Merton quotes: Contemplative living is living in true relationship with oneself, God, others and nature, free of the illusions of separateness. Contemplative living is living in true relationship with oneself, God, others and nature, free of the illusions of separateness.
Thomas Merton quotes: In Silence God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience. In Silence God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience.
Thomas Merton quotes: Man was made for the highest activity, which is, in fact, his rest, Man was made for the highest activity, which is, in fact, his rest,
Thomas Merton quotes: The artistic experience, at its highest, was actually a natural analogue of mystical experience. It produced a kind of intuitive of perception. The artistic experience, at its highest, was actually a natural analogue of mystical experience. It produced a kind of intuitive of perception.
Thomas Merton quotes: O God, my God, the night has values that the day never dreamed of. O God, my God, the night has values that the day never dreamed of.
Thomas Merton quotes: A Christian is committed to the belief that Love and Mercy are the most powerful forces on earth. A Christian is committed to the belief that Love and Mercy are the most powerful forces on earth.
Thomas Merton quotes: Love is our true destiny. Love is our true destiny.
Thomas Merton quotes: You are certainly one of the joys of life for all who have ever come within a mile of you. You are certainly one of the joys of life for all who have ever come within a mile of you.
Thomas Merton quotes: People have no idea what one saint can do: for sanctity is stronger than the whole of hell. People have no idea what one saint can do: for sanctity is stronger than the whole of hell.

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