John O'Donohue

the search for meaning is really the search for the lost chord. When the lost chord is discovered by humankind, the discord…

— John O'Donohue

I always was kind of on the edge of the church when I was fully in it , cos I was always…

— John O'Donohue

The blessings for which we hunger are not to be found in other places or people. These gifts can only be given…

— John O'Donohue

To the judgmental eye, everything is closed in definitive frames. When the judgmental eye looks out, it sees things in terms of…

— John O'Donohue

...we are custodians of deep and ancient thresholds. In the human face you see that potential and the miracle of undying possibility.

— John O'Donohue

When you had an ‘anam cara,’ (soul friend), your friendship cut across all convention and category. You were joined in an ancient…

— John O'Donohue

Sometimes people are very worried about dying. There is no need to be afraid. when the moment of your dying comes, you…

— John O'Donohue

Our trust in the future has lost its innocence. We know now that anything can happen from one minute to the next.…

— John O'Donohue

The beauty of the Catholic church is that it has a sacramental structure that can hold its own with the best out…

— John O'Donohue

I do not wish to criticize any system that can nourish people’s spirits, but I find that a lot of New Age…

— John O'Donohue

When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in…

— John O'Donohue

When we hear the word 'beauty', we inevitably think that beauty belongs in a special elite realm where only the extraordinary dwells.…

— John O'Donohue

Your beloved and your friends were once strangers. Somehow at a particular time, they came from the distance toward your life. Their…

— John O'Donohue

The idea [of therapy] isn't to give people answers, or lead their bark of longing into a safe, dull, protected harbor, but…

— John O'Donohue

Part of understanding the notion of Justice is to recognize the disproportions among which we live...it takes an awful lot of living…

— John O'Donohue

On its outer surface time is vulnerable to transience. Regardless of its sadness or beauty, each day empties and vanishes. In its…

— John O'Donohue

Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness; the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.

— John O'Donohue

When you forgive, some deeper, divine generosity takes you over... When you cannot forgive, you are a prisoner of the hurt done…

— John O'Donohue

A lot of suffering is just getting rid of dross in yourself, and lingering and hanging in the darkness is often -…

— John O'Donohue

The essence of who you are is ultimately mysterious, ungraspable and numinous-completely different from every other structure of matter.

— John O'Donohue

“If you go out for several hours into a place that is wild, your mind begins to slow down, down, down. What…

— John O'Donohue

“Though beauty is autonomous, there seem to be occasions when human presence can become congruent with her will. In creative work no…

— John O'Donohue

Human skin is porous; the world flows through you. Your senses are large pores that let the world in. By being attuned…

— John O'Donohue

“Reflection comes between us and every other person and object in the world. An object or a person can be reflected in…

— John O'Donohue

In turning away from beauty, we turn away from all that is wholesome and true, and deliver ourselves into an exile where…

— John O'Donohue

Though the human body is born complete in one moment, the birth of the human heart is an ongoing process. It is…

— John O'Donohue

The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields, and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of…

— John O'Donohue

Transience is the force of time that makes a ghost of every experience. There was never a dawn, regardless how beautiful or…

— John O'Donohue

When you cease to fear your solitude, a new creativity awakens in you. Your forgotten or neglected wealth begins to reveal itself.…

— John O'Donohue

Good friends won't let you off the hook when you shouldn't be let off the hook. You can let fall the masks…

— John O'Donohue

Although you should not erase your responsibility for the past, when you make the past your jailer, you destroy your future. It…

— John O'Donohue

Somewhere, out at the edges, the night / Is turning and the waves of darkness / Begin to brighten the shore of…

— John O'Donohue

I have never seen white so absolute / And alone, glistening in awkward form / Dreaming across the water a bright path.…

— John O'Donohue

Respectability and security are subtle traps on life's journey. Those who are drawn to extremes are often nearer to renewal and self-discovery.…

— John O'Donohue

When love awakens in your life, in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before…

— John O'Donohue

You have traveled too fast over false ground; Now your soul has come to take you back. Take refuge in your senses,…

— John O'Donohue

We [humans] are the only creatures who are in-between. We're of the earth, but don't belong to it, because we strain after…

— John O'Donohue

Each of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness. Â… When…

— John O'Donohue