Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
THOMAS MERTON
THOMAS MERTON
Thomas Merton on art
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
More Thomas Merton quotes
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?
Thomas MertonThomas Merton But if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton 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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton Actions are the doors and windows of being. Unless we act, we have no way of knowing what we are.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton 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.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton For perfect hope is achieved on the brink of despair, when instead of falling over the edge, we find ourselves walking on air.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers.
Thomas MertonThomas Merton You are made in the image of what you desire.
Thomas MertonThomas 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