More from Thomas Merton
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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton The artist should preach nothing-not even his own autonomy. His art should speak its own truth, and in so doing it will be in harmony with every other kind of truth- moral, metaphysical, mystical.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Perhaps I am stronger than I think.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Others can give you a name or a number, but they can never tell you who you really are. That is something you yourself can only discover from within.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton 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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false Self. We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton May God prevent us from becoming “right-thinking men”-that is to say men who agree perfectly with their own police.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton When you see God in everyone, then they see God in you.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton 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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Ours is a time of anxiety because we have willed it to be so. Our anxiety is not imposed on us by force from outside. We impose it on our world and upon one another from within ourselves.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton
Original quotes
From our community writers
Our only limitation is that we only believe what is visible to our eyes and audible to our ears.
Shilpa GoelShilpa Goel Some days, you will be close to the finish line and still not make it.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.
Bell HooksBell Hooks I separated someplace for each person in my heart, But she claimed to be the owner of it.
Moses AlexanderMoses Alexander Modern-day love stories are born not out of love, but a tired mind and a restless heart.
Puneet MehraPuneet Mehra Forcing things only creates more tension in the mind. Let go.
Ayaka HaseAyaka Hase It doesn’t take courage to find peace in the arms of destiny. It takes faith.
Anamika GargAnamika Garg I can’t wait to collect memories from every corner of the earth to splash in the vastness of this beautiful world.
Julia Kellogg HenryJulia Kellogg Henry
Meet the writers
More on breathe
Live your eyeliner, breathe your lipstick, and kill for each other.
Lady GagaLady Gaga Remember when I moved in you And the holy dove was moving too, and every breath we drew was Hallelujah.
Leonard CohenLeonard Cohen I want to cuddle to feel your skin, your warmth, hear your breath, and read to you.
Emma SchippersEmma Schippers My heart is beating, and I’m breathing, and nothing anybody has ever done has changed that.
Rupi KaurRupi Kaur i cannot breathe in any more sadness-suffering.
Charlie GilbertCharlie Gilbert I am finding the courage to breathe as I am.
Shelby EnsignShelby Ensign I breathe you in and I am alive again.
Karla GaleanaKarla Galeana I will breathe because I must, but I will smile because I’m living.
Shelby EnsignShelby Ensign