Every breath we draw is a gift of God's love; every moment of existence is a grace. — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
The peace produced by grace is a spiritual stability too deep for violence — it is unshakeable — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun. — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
This is the crucifixion of Christ: in which He dies again and again in the individuals who were made to share the… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
Grace is not a strange, magic substance which is subtly filtered into our souls to act as a kind of spiritual penicillin.… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
The peculiar grace of a Shaker chair is due to the fact that it was made by someone capable of believing that… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
True contemplation is not a psychological trick but a theological grace. It can come to us ONLY as a gift, and not… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
May we all grow in grace and peace and not neglect the silence that is printed in the center of our being.… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us...and He has given us everything. Every… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
The only trouble is that in the spiritual life there are no tricks and no shortcuts. Those who imagine that they can… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in darkness.… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
Our real journey in life is interior; It is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
To be risen with Christ means not only that one has a choice and that one may live by a higher law… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
Teach me to take all grace / And spring it into blades of act, / Grow spears and sheaves of charity, /… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
“We must approach our meditation realizing that 'grace,' 'mercy,' and 'faith' are not permanent inalienable possessions which we gain by our efforts… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
What is 'grace'? It is God's own life, shared by us. God's life is love. Deus caritas est. By grace we are… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
It is true to say that for me sanctity consists in being myself and for you sanctity consists of being yourself and… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
“As soon as man is fully disposed to be alone with God, he is alone with God no matter where he may… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
Once you have grace," I said to him, "you are free. Without it, you cannot help doing the things you know you… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
I just remember their kindness and goodness to me, and their peacefulness and their utter simplicity. They inspired real reverence, and I… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
The reality that is present to us and in us: call it being...Silence. And the simple fact that by being attentive, by… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
O God, teach me to be satisfied with my own helplessness in the spiritual life. Teach me to be content with Your… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
“Once the question of grace and free will is reduced to a juridical matter, once witnesses line up with plaintiff or defendant… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
“One of the effects of original sin is an instinctive prejudice in favour of our own selfish desires. We see things as… — Thomas Merton Copy Share Image
“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
If nothing that can be seen can either be God or represent Him to us as He is, then to find God we must… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
We are not perfectly free until we live in pure hope. For when our hope is pure, it no longer trusts exclusively in human… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance to a… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
The mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
Things that are good are good, and if one is responding to that goodness one is in contact with a truth from which one… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
“The wisdom of the flesh is a judgement that the ordinary ends of our natural appetites are the goods to which the whole of… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns: that is a penance You do not… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
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… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
“Contemplation means rest, suspension of activity, withdrawal into the mysterious interior solitude in which the soul is absorbed in the immense and fruitful silence… — Thomas Merton Copy Share
![“Teach me to take all grace / And spring it into blades of act, / Grow spears and sheaves of charity, / While each new instant, (new eternity) / Flowering with clean and individual circumstance, / Speaks me the whisper of [God's] consecrating Spirit. / Then will obedience bring forth new…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/14d/thomas-merton-231_blades_teach-me-to-take-all-grace-and-spring-it_1077390.jpg)
