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.
THOMAS MERTONNot all of us are called to be hermits, but all of us need enough silence and solitude in our lives to enable the deeper voice of our own self to be heard at least occasionally.
More Thomas Merton Quotes
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For although God is right with us and in us and out of us and all through us, we have to go on journeys to find him.
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For perfect hope is achieved on the brink of despair, when instead of falling over the edge, we find ourselves walking on air.
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We cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great.
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If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
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What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?
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Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.
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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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The purpose of our lives is to find the purpose of our lives.
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Our real journey in life is interior.
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Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder.
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Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us and see the beauty in ordinary things.
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When your tongue is silent, you can rest in the silence of the forest. When your imagination is silent, the forest speaks to you. It tells you of its unreality and of the Reality of God. But when your mind is silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real and blazes transparently with the Reality of God.
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Love is not a matter of getting what you want. Quite the contrary. The insistence on always having what you want, on always being satisfied, on always being fulfilled, makes love impossible.
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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.
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We are not converted only once in our lives but many times and this endless series of conversions and inner revolutions leads to our transformation.
THOMAS MERTON






