Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him.
THOMAS MERTONPrayer is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in him who loves us, who is near to us.
More Thomas Merton Quotes
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We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.
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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.
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In a world of noise, confusion and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom.
THOMAS MERTON -
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.
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Actions are the doors and windows of being. Unless we act, we have no way of knowing what we are.
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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.
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But if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for.
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We cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great.
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Love is not a matter of getting what you want. Quite the contrary. The insistence on always having what you want, on always being satisfied, on always being fulfilled, makes love impossible.
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The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most.
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The purpose of our lives is to find the purpose of our lives.
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Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.
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Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
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Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and selfishness that have chilled his faith.
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You are made in the image of what you desire.
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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?
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Before we can realize who we really are, we must become conscious of the fact that the person we think we are, here and now, is at best an impostor and a stranger.
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If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
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Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us and see the beauty in ordinary things.
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The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves.
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Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.
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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.
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Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.
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No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers.
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We are not converted only once in our lives but many times and this endless series of conversions and inner revolutions leads to our transformation.
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May God prevent us from becoming “right-thinking men”-that is to say men who agree perfectly with their own police.
THOMAS MERTON