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Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton Quotes

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Famous Thomas Merton Quotes

“If we wait for some people to become agreeable or attractive before we begin to love them, we will never begin. If we are content to give them a cold impersonal 'charity' that is merely a matter of obligation, we will not trouble to understand them or to sympathize with them at all. And in that case we will not really love them, because love implies an efficacious will not only to do good to others exteriorly but also to find some good in them to which we can respond."”

PeopleIfsGivingMatterWaitingCasesTroubleColdCharityObligationAttractive
Book:No Man Is an Island
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“I stand among you as one who offers a small message of hope. . . there are always people who dare to seek on the margin of society, who are not dependent on social acceptance, not dependent on social routine, and prefer a kind of free-floating existence under a state of risk.”

PeopleKindStatesSocialExistenceRiskAcceptanceOffersMessagesDareDependentRoutineFloatingMarginsMessage Of HopeSocial Acceptance
Book:Choosing to Love the World: On Contemplation
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“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.”

LoveLove IsDestinyFateLove YouTrue LoveMeaning Of LifeBeing The BestInspirational LoveValentineOur DestinyValentine's DayBeing MarriedCriminal MindMy DestinyMeaning LifeFate DestinyTrue MeaningFunny Valentines DayValentine LoveValentines Day LoveFate And DestinyRomantic Valentines DayFunny ValentineTrue LoversHappy ValentinesFound LoveHappy Valentines DayCute Valentines DayHappy Valentines Day FunnyValentine PhrasesValentines Day CardsBe My ValentineSweet ValentineLife DestinyLife And DestinyDestiny And ChoiceWhat Is The Meaning Of LifeValentines Day SpecialCute ValentineShort Valentines DayFriend ValentineValentines GreetingsLife Has No MeaningShort ValentineLife FateTrue Meaning Of LifeSweet Valentines DayFebruary LoveCute Funny Valentines DayValentine SpecialValentines Day GreetingsValentine CardTrue Meaning Of Love
Book:Love and Living
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“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.”

SpiritualSpiritualityLove IsRelationshipLove YouFitReflectionRelationUnconditional LoveInspirational LoveLoved OnesOur RelationshipOur LoveTwistsUnconditionalTwistedReflectingSelf ReflectionBeginningLoving SomeoneLove RelationshipFunny RelationshipThose We LoveSpiritual LoveRelationships With OthersHealthy RelationshipHappy RelationshipImagingLove And RelationshipRelationships And LifeLove UnconditionallyPerfect RelationshipLove And InspirationalDeveloping RelationshipsBeginning Of Relationship
Author:Thomas Merton
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“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”

ArtArtistLosesPaintingArt IsSelf DiscoveryArtisticFinding YourselfGreat ArtistFine ArtsLosing YourselfVisual ArtFamous ArtistCreative ArtistsArt And MusicArt EducationArt And ArtistsArt MusicArt And CreativityInspirational ArtistArtists And CreativityInspirational ArtFavorite ArtistArt TeacherApril Fools DayApril FoolsFools DayInspiring ArtBest ArtistDiscovering Your True SelfArt DesignBest ArtFunny April Fools DayInspiring ArtistMusic ArtistArt InspirationCreativity And LearningArt ExpressionLosing Ourselves
Book:No Man Is an Island
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“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.”

IfsImportantAbleInspiringJourneyMoonDiscoveryGainsCrossesUselessLife ChangingSailingAbyssVoyagesFull MoonVoyages Of Discovery
Book:The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century
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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.”

IdeasWholeGodSpiritualityCompassionKindnessAwarenessInvolvedCompassionateBrotherhoodInterdependenceUnity In DiversityCommon GroundKindness And CompassionSpiritual AwarenessKindness To OthersCompassion For OthersCompassion And EmpathyPeace With OthersAwareness Of Others
Book:Choosing to Love the World: On Contemplation
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“Merely to resist evil with evil by hating those who hate us and seeking to destroy them, is actually no resistance at all. It is active and purposeful collaboration in evil that brings the Christian into direct and intimate contact with the same source of evil and hatred which inspires the acts of his enemy. It leads in practice to a denial of Christ and to the service of hatred rather than love.”

WisdomChristianHateEvilChristEnemyPracticeInspireSourceDirectHatredSeekingActiveResistanceContactDenialIntimateCollaborationLead In
Author:Thomas Merton
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“If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy. If you write for men--you may make some money and you may give someone a little joy and you may make a noise in the world, for a little while. If you write for yourself, you can read what you yourself have written and after ten minutes you will be so disgusted that you will wish that you were dead.”

IfsMenWorldGivingWritingMayLittlesWisdomJoyWishMoneyWrittenMinutesTenNoiseReachingTheologianDisgusted
Book:Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing
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