The only feelings that do not heal are the ones you hide.
HENRI NOUWENThe only feelings that do not heal are the ones you hide.
HENRI NOUWENJoy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
HENRI NOUWENThis brief lifetime is my opportunity to receive love, deepen love, grow in love, and give love.
HENRI NOUWENSolitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.
HENRI NOUWENWithout solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to him.
HENRI NOUWENIt is in solitude that we discover that being is more important than having and that we are worth more than the results of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended but a gift to be shared.
HENRI NOUWENMuch violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
HENRI NOUWENOur humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a handshake, a kiss, an embrace, a word of love, a present, a part of our life…all of our life.
HENRI NOUWENIf you feel loved, you can do a thousand things. If you feel rejected, everything becomes a problem.
HENRI NOUWENCompassion can never coexist with judgement because judgement creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.
HENRI NOUWENOur greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.
HENRI NOUWENTrust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
HENRI NOUWENDare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love.
HENRI NOUWENListening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.
HENRI NOUWENThe greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.
HENRI NOUWENIn a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.
HENRI NOUWEN