Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him.
THOMAS MERTONWhat can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?
More Thomas Merton Quotes
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Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ.
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Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
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Perhaps I am stronger than I think.
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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.
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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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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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Self-conquest is really self-surrender. Yet before we can surrender ourselves we must become ourselves. For no one can give up what he does not possess.
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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.
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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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We live on the brink of disaster because we do not know how to let life alone. We do not respect the living and fruitful contradictions and paradoxes of which true life is full.
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Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation. Learn how to contemplate works of art. Learn how to pray in the streets or in the country. Know how to meditate not only when you have a book in your hand but when you are waiting for a bus or riding in a train.
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You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.
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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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Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created for pleasure: you were created for joy. And if you do not know the difference between pleasure and joy you have not yet begun to live.
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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.
THOMAS MERTON






