When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.
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.
More Henri Nouwen Quotes
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Listening 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.
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Your life is not going to be easy, and it should not be easy. It ought to be hard. It ought to be radical; it ought to be restless; it ought to lead you to places you’d rather not go.
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In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
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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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What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.
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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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Prayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us.
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Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved.
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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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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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Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved.
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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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Keep a space where God can let something totally new take place.
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Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.
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Community means that people come together around the table, not just to feed their bodies, but to feed their minds and their relationships.
HENRI NOUWEN