A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless, than one that always verges on despair. Thomas Merton More Quotes by Thomas Merton More Quotes From Thomas Merton 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 knownifsgiving I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity ... I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can. Thomas Merton buddhistbuddhismchristianity The things we really need come to us only as gifts, and in order to receive them as gifts we have to be open. In order to be open we have to renounce ourselves, in a sense we have to die to our image of ourselves, our autonomy, our fixation upon our self-willed identity. Thomas Merton identityselforder The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man had chosen suffering in preference to the joys of union with God, the Lord turned suffering itself into a way by which man could come to the perfect knowledge of God. Thomas Merton painwisdomfall The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the other.... The whole purpose of life is to live by love. Thomas Merton purposecompassionideas Jesus lived and died in vain if He did not teach us to regulate the whole of life by the eternal law of love. Gandhi, quoted in Merton, p. 38 Thomas Merton wisdomlovejesus I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun. Thomas Merton racemenpeople The only thing to seek in contemplative prayer is God; and we seek Him successfully when we realize that we cannot find Him unless He shows Himself to us, and yet at the same time that He would not have inspired us to seek Him unless we had already found Him. Thomas Merton inspiredwisdomprayer To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything. Thomas Merton gratitudethanksgivinggrateful Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder. Thomas Merton gratitudeawakeningthank-you To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect on me is to live on the doorstep of hell. Selfishness is doomed to frustration centered as it is upon a lie. To live exclusively for myself, I must make all things bend themselves to my will as if I were a god. Thomas Merton frustrationspirituallying The real hope is not in something we think we can do, but in God, who is making something good out of it in some way we cannot see. Thomas Merton religioushopegod Ours is a time of anxiety because we have willed it to be so. Our anxiety is not imposed on us by force from outside. We impose it on our world and upon one another from within ourselves. Thomas Merton anxietyour-worldworld Others can give you a name or a number, but they can never tell you who you really are. That is something you yourself can only discover from within. Thomas Merton namesnumbersgiving The importance of detachment from things, the importance of poverty, is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer to people. Wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble. That is the crux of the whole matter. Thomas Merton importantmightpeople But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that he may be the object of God's love precisely because of his shortcomings, can begin to be sincere. His sincerity is based on confidence, not in his own illusions about himself, but in the endless, unfailing mercy of God. Thomas Merton mercy-of-godmaymen The man who sweats under his mask, whose role makes him itch with discomfort, who hates the division in himself, is already beginning to be free. Thomas Merton sweathatemen Modern man believes he is fruitful and productive when his ego is aggressively affirmed, when he is visibly active, and when his action produces obvious results. Thomas Merton egomenbelieve Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false Self. We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves. Thomas Merton cherishselfspiritual Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation. Learn how to contemplate works of art. Learn how to pray in the streets or in the country. Know how to meditate not only when you have a book in your hand but when you are waiting for a bus or riding in a train. Thomas Merton lifecountryart
