--- title: "4 Beginning Quotes By Thomas Merton" description: "4 Beginning quotes by Thomas Merton. Plus more from Thomas Merton and more Beginning sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8eb/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_130505.jpg" --- > [“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves and not to twist them to fit our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we-love-be-perfectly-themselves/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8eb/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_130505.jpg) > [The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we-love-be-perfectly-themselves-3/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7eb/thomas-merton-231_love_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_2186732.jpg) > [“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist our own image. Otherwise we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we-love-be-perfectly-themselves-4/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ea/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_3103001.jpg) > [The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit out own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we-love-be-perfectly-themselves-5/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c8/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_3215526.jpg) ## Other authors on Beginning - [Israelmore Ayivor 17 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/israelmore-ayivor/) - [T. S. Eliot 8 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/t-s-eliot/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-plato-75782.jpg) Plato 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/plato/) - [Aristotle 8 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/aristotle/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-socrates-86017.jpg) Socrates 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/socrates/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-nishan-panwar-14.jpg) Nishan Panwar 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/nishan-panwar/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-george-eliot-37652.jpg) George Eliot 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/george-eliot/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b021/author-sarah-dessen-83191.jpg) Sarah Dessen 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/sarah-dessen/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-ritu-ghatourey-5.jpg) Ritu Ghatourey 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/ritu-ghatourey/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-neil-gaiman-70689.jpg) Neil Gaiman 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/neil-gaiman/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-ezra-taft-benson-34453.jpg) Ezra Taft Benson 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/ezra-taft-benson/) - [Craig D. Lounsbrough 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/craig-d-lounsbrough/) ## More by Thomas Merton > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-no-one-hope-to-find-in-contemplation-an-escape-from-conflict-from/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [If nothing that can be seen can either be God or represent Him to us as He is, then to find God we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-nothing-that-can-be-seen-can-either-be-god-or-represent-him-to-us/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [We are not perfectly free until we live in pure hope. For when our hope is pure, it no longer trusts exclusively in human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/we-are-not-perfectly-free-until-we-live-in-pure-hope-for-when-our/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-an-ingot/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-enter-into-the-realm-of-contemplation-one-must-in-a-certain-sense/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-mission-of-christian-humility-in-social-life-is-not-merely-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/peace-cannot-be-built-on-exclusivism-absolutism-and-intolerance-but/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Things that are good are good, and if one is responding to that goodness one is in contact with a truth from which one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/things-that-are-good-are-good-and-if-one-is-responding-to-that/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Love winter when the plant says nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-winter-when-the-plant-says-nothing/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-logic-of-worldly-success-rests-on-a-fallacy-the-strange-error/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“The wisdom of the flesh is a judgement that the ordinary ends of our natural appetites are the goods to which the whole of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-wisdom-of-the-flesh-is-a-judgement-that-the-ordinary-ends-of-our/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [I will no longer wound myself with the thoughts and questions that have surrounded me like thorns: that is a penance You do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-will-no-longer-wound-myself-with-the-thoughts-and-questions-that/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/if-you-write-for-god-you-will-reach-many-men-and-bring-them-joy-if/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“Contemplation means rest, suspension of activity, withdrawal into the mysterious interior solitude in which the soul is absorbed in the immense and fruitful silence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/contemplation-means-rest-suspension-of-activity-withdrawal-into-the/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/thomas-merton/#itemlist", "name": "4 Beginning Quotes By Thomas Merton", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves and not to twist them to fit our own image.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we-love-be-perfectly-themselves/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8eb/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_130505.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8eb/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_130505.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8eb/thomas-merton-231_beginning_the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we_130505.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves and not to twist them to fit our own…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. 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