Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.
THOMAS MERTON
THOMAS MERTON
Thomas Merton on destiny
Thomas Merton76 quotes“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.”
More from Thomas Merton
Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton From the moment you put a piece of bread in your mouth you are part of the world. Who grew the wheat? Who made the bread? Where did it come from? You are in relationship with all who brought it to the table. We are least separate and most in common when we eat and drink.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and selfishness that have chilled his faith.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton A 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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton 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 MertonThomas Merton The purpose of our lives is to find the purpose of our lives.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton 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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton A faith that is afraid of other people is no faith at all.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity. I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Weaknesses and deficiencies play a most important part in all our lives. It is because of them that we need others and others need us. We are not all weak in the same spots, and so we supplement and complete one another, each one making up in himself for the lack in another.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Prayer is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in him who loves us, who is near to us.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton It is my belief, that we should not be too sure of having found Christ in ourselves until we have found him also in that part of humanity that is most remote from our own.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Our real journey in life is interior.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton What do I mean by loving ourselves properly? I mean first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give to others.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton
Original quotes
From our community writers
Sadness shoots a bullet straight at your heart and love buys you time.
Shelby CaudleShelby Caudle Do you think it possible that some people are born to give more love than they will ever get back in return?
Tyler Knott GregsonTyler Knott Gregson It’s been a long time since we said goodbye and yet the echoes of it are still ringing in our ears.
Ranata SuzukiRanata Suzuki In this wilderness, Mankind is the animal I fear.
Addison SchmittAddison Schmitt We can always walk with them in the rain instead of just lending an umbrella.
Leon MarshLeon Marsh Flowers only wither to bloom again. So shall you break, only to be whole again.
Fareena AliyaFareena Aliya What do you do when the passion burns out? Start another fire.
Jonny OxJonny Ox To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.
Bell HooksBell Hooks
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More on destiny
I am the captain of my destiny, I do not abandon the ship in hard times, But, I do have sense enough not to go down with the ship.
Cesare PaveseCesare Pavese You’ve got to say ‘yes’ to your destiny. Life’s happening right now, look around you. There goes some life. Come on, Mamma, live!
Dave ChappelleDave Chappelle If you have a strong mind and plant in it a firm resolve, you can change your destiny.
Paramahansa YoganandaParamahansa Yogananda I feel not a person but an instrument of destiny.
Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle Your personal core values define who you are, and a company’s core values ultimately define the company’s character and brand. For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.
Tony HsiehTony Hsieh I know what it’s like to access the privilege of a ZIP Code but also be born in one that could have destined me to something else.
Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.
Rick WarrenRick Warren It is not that things happen to each of us according to his fate, but that he interprets what has happened, if he has power to do so, according to his sense of his own destiny.
Cesare PaveseCesare Pavese