--- title: "4 Christian life Quotes By Thomas Merton" description: "4 Christian life quotes by Thomas Merton. Plus more from Thomas Merton and more Christian life sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/thomas-merton-231_christian-life_there-was-to-be-nothing-special-about-it_388344.jpg" --- > [“There was to be nothing special about it, nothing that savored of a religious Order, no special rule, no distinctive habit. She,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/there-was-to-be-nothing-special-about-it-nothing-that-savored-of-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/thomas-merton-231_christian-life_there-was-to-be-nothing-special-about-it_388344.jpg) > [The Christian life, and especially the contemplative life, is a continual discovery of Christ in new and unexpected places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-christian-life-and-especially-the-contemplative-life-is-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/324/thomas-merton-231_christ_the-christian-life-and-especially-the-co_1555967.jpg) > [Each individual Christian and each new age of the Church has to make this rediscovery, this return to the source of Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/each-individual-christian-and-each-new-age-of-the-church-has-to-make/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfc/thomas-merton-231_age_each-individual-christian-and-each-new-a_2518755.jpg) > [“There is a 'movement' of meditation, expressing the basic 'paschal' rhythm of the Christian life, the passage from death to life in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/there-is-a-movement-of-meditation-expressing-the-basic-paschal-rhythm/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d78/thomas-merton-231_christ_there-is-a-movement-of-meditation-expres_2805143.jpg) ## Other authors on Christian life - [Lailah Gifty Akita 96 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/lailah-gifty-akita/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-thomas-watson-4209.jpg) Thomas Watson 14 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/thomas-watson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-dietrich-bonhoeffer-29418.jpg) Dietrich Bonhoeffer 12 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-charles-spurgeon-22605.jpg) Charles Spurgeon 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/charles-spurgeon/) - [Van Harden 10 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/van-harden/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-sibbes-78904.jpg) Richard Sibbes 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/richard-sibbes/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-martin-luther-64750.jpg) Martin Luther 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/martin-luther/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pope-francis-75890.jpg) Pope Francis 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/pope-francis/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-aiden-wilson-tozer-9883.jpg) Aiden Wilson Tozer 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/aiden-wilson-tozer/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-oswald-chambers-72884.jpg) Oswald Chambers 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/oswald-chambers/) - [Ikechukwu Joseph 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/ikechukwu-joseph/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-william-gurnall-95456.jpg) William Gurnall 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian-life/william-gurnall/) ## 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/christian-life/thomas-merton/#itemlist", "name": "4 Christian life Quotes By Thomas Merton", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There was to be nothing special about it, nothing that savored of a religious Order, no special rule, no distinctive habit. 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