Quotessence
Home / Authors / Henri J.M. Nouwen

Henri J.M. Nouwen Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllSpiritualityProdigal SonParablesTheologyGodLoveCompassionSolitudeJoyChristianityFaithJesusPrayerResentmentArtCommunityGratitudeSelf EsteemDeathFatherhood

Famous Henri J.M. Nouwen Quotes

“Home is the center of my being where I can hear the voice that says: “You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests”. A never-interrupted voice of love speaking from eternity and giving life and love whenever it is heard. When I hear that voice, I know that I am home with God and have nothing to fear. As the Beloved, I can be tortured and killed without ever having to doubt that the love that is given to me is stronger than death. As the Beloved, I am free to live and give life, free also to die while giving life. It is the voice of a nearly blind father who has cried much and died many deaths. It is a voice that can only be heard by those who allow themselves to be touched. Sensing the touch of God’s blessing hands and hearing the voice calling me the Beloved are one and the same. This became clear to the prophet Elijah. In the tenderness of God, voice was touch and touch was voice.”

GodHomeDeathSpiritualityVoiceBlessingTheologyParablesProdigal Son
Book:The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
Create image

“If I could meet Rembrandt right where he had painted father and son, God and humanity, compassion and misery, in one circle of love, I would come to know as much as I ever would about death and life. I also sensed the hope that through Rembrandt’s masterpiece I would one day be able to express what I most wanted to say about love.”

LoveDeathSpiritualityCompassionPaintingCatholicTheologyParablesProdigal Son
Book:The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
Create image

“Both Simeon and the father of the returning son carry within themselves that mysterious light by which they see. It is an inner light, deeply hidden, but radiating an all-pervasive tender beauty. This inner vision, however, had remained hidden for a long time. Only gradually and through much anguish did he come to know that light within himself and, through himself, in those he painted. Before being like the father, Rembrandt was for a long time like the proud young man. It is the movement from the glory that seduces one into an ever greater search for wealth and popularity to the glory that is hidden in the human soul and surpasses death.”

LoveArtLightDeathSpiritualityTheologyParablesProdigal SonPaintings
Book:The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
Create image