People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
THOMAS MERTONA happiness that is sought for ourselves alone can never be found: for a happiness that is diminished by being shared is not big enough to make us happy.
More Thomas Merton Quotes
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Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.
THOMAS MERTON -
People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
THOMAS MERTON -
Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.
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Not 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.
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Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him.
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Our real journey in life is interior.
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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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If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
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Actions are the doors and windows of being. Unless we act, we have no way of knowing what we are.
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In a world of noise, confusion and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom.
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How can I be sincere if I am constantly changing my mind to conform with the shadow of what I think others expect of me?
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When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my own country may cease to want war, but above all that my country will cease to do the things that make war inevitable.
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Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already I am.
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Every breath we draw is a gift of God’s love; every moment of existence is a grace.
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For each one of us, there is only one thing necessary: to fulfill our own destiny, according to God’s will, to be what God wants us to be.
THOMAS MERTON