I have learned that one cannot truly know hope unless he has found out how like despair hope is. Thomas Merton More Quotes by Thomas Merton More Quotes From Thomas Merton The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else's imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real! Thomas Merton realwisdomlife And that is why the man who wants to see clearly, before he will believe, never starts on the journey. Thomas Merton journeymenbelieve The Holy Spirit is the most perfect gift of the Father to men, and yet He is the one gift which the Father gives most easily. Thomas Merton wisdommenfather I am beginning to realize that "sanity" is no longer a value or an end in itself. The "sanity" of modern man is about as useful to him as the huge bulk and muscles of the dinosaur. If he were a little less sane, a little more doubtful, a little more aware of his absurdities and contradictions, perhaps there might be a possibility of his survival. Thomas Merton survivalwisdompeople The biggest human temptation is... to settle for too little. Thomas Merton simple-lifewisdomtemptation It is in deep solitude and silence that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brother and sister. Thomas Merton solitudesilencebrother Not all of us are called to be hermits, but all of us need enough silence and solitude in our lives to enable the deeper voice of our own self to be heard at least occasionally. Thomas Merton voiceyogainspirational My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me...you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton shadow-of-deathmayideas We have to have a deep, patient compassion for the fears of others and irrational mania of those who hate or condemn us. Thomas Merton forgivenesshatecompassion One of the first things to learn if you want to be a contemplative is to mind your own business. Nothing is more suspicious, in a man who seems holy, than an impatient desire to reform other men. Thomas Merton mind-your-own-businessinspirationalmen A man knows when he has found his vocation when he stops thinking about how to live and begins to live. Thomas Merton wisdommenlife There are days when I am convinced that Heaven starts already, now, in this ordinary life just as it is, in all its incompleteness, yet, this is where Heaven starts.. see within yourself, if you can find it. I walked through the field in front of the house, lots of swallows flying, everywhere! Some very near me..it was magical. "We are already one, yet we know it not. Thomas Merton wisdomhouseheaven A man searching for enlightenment is like a man sitting on an Ass in search of an Ass Thomas Merton enlightenmentsittingmen Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ. Thomas Merton eyedisappointmentheart To some men peace merely means the liberty to exploit other people without fear of retaliation or interference. To others peace means the freedom to rob others without interruption. To still others it means the leisure to devour the goods of the earth without being compelled to interrupt their pleasures to feed those whom their greed is starving. And to practically everybody peace simply means the absence of any physical violence that might cast a shadow over lives devoted to the satisfaction of their animal appetites for comfort and pleasure. Thomas Merton animalmenmean I am against war, against violence, against violent revolution, for peaceful settlement of differences, for nonviolent but nevertheless radical changes. Change is needed, and violence will not really change anything: at most it will only transfer power from one set of bull-headed authorities to another. Thomas Merton differenceswarpeace True encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, a resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation. Thomas Merton encountersspiritualchrist Our real journey in life is interior; It is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts. Never was it more necessary to respond to that action. Thomas Merton realjourneyheart We are already ONE. We just think we are separate. Thomas Merton thinking The Hindus are not looking for us to send them men who will build schools and hospitals, although those things are good and useful in themselves--and perhaps very badly needed in India: they want to know if we have any saints to send them. Thomas Merton wisdommenschool
