Learning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human.
HENRI NOUWENSomewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.
More Henri Nouwen Quotes
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Our life is a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment.
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We are all healers who can reach out and offer health, and we are all patients in constant need of help.
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Without 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.
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If you feel loved, you can do a thousand things. If you feel rejected, everything becomes a problem.
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Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know I am moving from fear to love.
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Be surprised by joy, be surprised by the little flower that shows its beauty in the midst of a barren desert, and be surprised by the immense healing power that keeps bursting forth like springs of fresh water from the depth of our pain.
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The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.
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The fruits of your labors may be reaped two generations from now. Trust, even when you don’t see the results.
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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.
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You have to listen to the one who calls you beloved. That has to be affirmed over and over again. That is prayer – listening to the voice of the one who calls you “the beloved.”
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I trust in you, Lord, but keep helping me in my moments of distrust and doubt.
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In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
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The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.
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Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your life.
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If I were to let my life be taken over by what is urgent, I might very well never get around to what is essential.
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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.
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When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.
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I often wonder if my knowledge about God has not become my greatest stumbling block to my knowledge of God.
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Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
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Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists! Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to? Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands? Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own, but what you want to give me.
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Dare 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.
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We cannot make it rain but we can see to it that the rain falls on prepared soil.
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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.
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I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.
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For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved.
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What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.
HENRI NOUWEN