A man who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly.
THOMAS MERTONBe good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace and your soul in the joy of Christ.
More Thomas Merton Quotes
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The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.
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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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Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us and see the beauty in ordinary things.
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Perhaps I am stronger than I think.
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You are made in the image of what you desire.
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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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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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We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have – for their usefulness.
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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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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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No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers.
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I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity. I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.
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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.
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Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him.
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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.
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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.
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Gratitude takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder.
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The purpose of our lives is to find the purpose of our lives.
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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.
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To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.
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Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.
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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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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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We cannot achieve greatness unless we lose all interest in being great.
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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 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 MERTON