What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.
HENRI NOUWEN
HENRI NOUWEN
Henri Nouwen on ability
Henri Nouwen68 quotes“What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.”
More from Henri Nouwen
We need to be angels for each other, to give each other strength and consolation. Because only when we fully realize that the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow but also a cup of joy will we be able to drink it.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing that is a friend who cares.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Those we most love cause us not only great joy but also great pain. LOVE is stronger than fear, life stronger than death, hope stronger than despair. We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Our 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 NouwenHenri Nouwen We are all healers who can reach out and offer health, and we are all patients in constant need of help.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God’s eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God’s heart.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen In 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 NouwenHenri Nouwen We are called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen Every time there are losses, there are choices to be made. You choose to live your losses as passages to anger, blame, hatred, depression and resentment, or you choose to let these losses be passages to something new, something wider, and deeper.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen We cannot make it rain but we can see to it that the rain falls on prepared soil.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen One of the tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen The main question is not, how can we hide our wounds but how can we put our woundedness in service to others.
Henri NouwenHenri Nouwen
Original quotes
From our community writers
The more you suffer, the more you awaken.
Ayaka HaseAyaka Hase Keep your faith strong enough to believe that you can manifest and receive what you want.
Lisa RoseLisa Rose Home is where your soul belongs.
Ana SoulfulAna Soulful The right person will never get tired of you.
Sophie SmithSophie Smith You thought it wouldn’t live again. But it will live again.
Carisa DownsCarisa Downs The world is not allowed to make a meal of you, girl. It is there for your consuming.
Nikita GillNikita Gill We all carry the heaviest anchors without anyone having a clue about it.
Aaron BellAaron Bell And you have fast become my weakness, even as you remain my source of strength.
Alma-May NoaAlma-May Noa
Meet the writers
More on ability
Capabilities are clearly manifested only when they have been realized.
Simone de BeauvoirSimone de Beauvoir The man who doesn’t know his own ability is ignorant of himself.
XenophonXenophon Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.
Marcus Tullius CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero Ability without honor is useless.
Marcus Tullius CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero The leader of the genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler The most we can say of democracy or freedom is that they give our personal abilities a little more influence on our well-being.
Karl PopperKarl Popper Patience is not simply the ability to wait, it’s more so how we behave while we are being patient that separates us.
Teyana TaylorTeyana Taylor She had it all, brains and body and the ability to tell me to go to hell whenever I deserved it. Love, at its finest.
Mark AnthonyMark Anthony