A monk ther was, a fair for the maistrie, An outridere…

“The abbot ought ever to bear in mind what he is and what he is called; he ought to know that to whom more…

— Saint Benedict of Nursia

“The important thing about being a leader is not being right or wrong but being certain. Of course it helps to be right as…

— Terry Pratchett

“We all seek peace,” the abbot said. “The trick is finding the path that leads to it.”

— Deborah Blake

“The abbot, perhaps, of a prosperous and deeply tanned order.”

— Peter Spiegelman

I fell, you see. Trod on my abbot, Father Habit. Oh, dear! I mean...

— Brian Jacques

“The abbot cleared his throat. "You are all very stupid people," he told them graciously, "and you do not know anything at all.”

— Neil Gaiman

Habit maketh no monk, ne wearing of gilt spurs maketh no knight.

— Geoffrey Chaucer

“I have my own way to walk and for some reason or other Zen is right in the middle of it wherever I go.…

— Thomas Merton

Believe nothing, O monks, just because you have been told it, or it is commonly believed, or because it is traditional or because you…

— Gautama Buddha

Indeed, said the monk, a mass, a matins, and vespers well rung are half-said.

— Francois Rabelais

A solitary American monk named Thomas Berry writes that in our relationship to nature, we have been autistic for centuries. Wrapped tightly in our…

— Janine Benyus

If your spirit still looks around at the time of prayer, then it does not yet pray as a monk. You are no better…

— Evagrius Ponticus

I listened to King Oliver and I listened to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp... I listened…

— Eric Clapton

So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…

— Gautama Buddha

I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.

— Jenova Chen