We live on the brink of disaster because we do not know how to let life alone. We do not respect the living and fruitful contradictions and paradoxes of which true life is full.
THOMAS MERTONPeople may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
More Thomas Merton Quotes
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The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
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Fear narrows the little entrance of our heart. It shrinks up our capacity to love. It freezes up our power to give ourselves.
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People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
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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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Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder.
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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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When you see God in everyone, then they see God in you.
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Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.
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Our real journey in life is interior.
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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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The purpose of our lives is to find the purpose of our lives.
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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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Prayer is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in him who loves us, who is near to us.
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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.
THOMAS MERTON