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Heart Quotes by Henri Nouwen

38 Heart quotes by Henri Nouwen

All Heart quotes Henri Nouwen’s page

Jesus says, keep your heart on the kingdom first, urging focus on divine love. Other quotes describe prayer as a bridge between God’s heart and the world, and claim that a heart can be larger than any wound. They also speak of community as a quality of the heart, and of leaders who train their hearts through prayer, study, and careful analysis.

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Yes, it's a competitive world, but where is your heart?

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Your heart is greater than your wounds.

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...the word that seems best to summarize the desire of the human heart is 'communion.' ...wherever we look it is communion that…

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How do you pray? Take the gospel of each day and spend ten minutes with it. Read it, and read it again.…

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The gospel word of the day can become like a painting on the walls. of your inner room, the inner room that…

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The crisis of our prayer life is that our minds may be filled with ideas of God while our hearts remain far…

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Take prayer with you wherever you go. Say it anytime, and then focus your mind and heart on God.

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Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for…

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Today's reading was "if they ask you to walk a mile, walk two. Don't take an eye for an eye or a…

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Jesus says, "Keep your heart on the kingdom first. Keep your heart on God's love. Keep focused on the fact that you…

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The Christian leaders of the future have to be theologians, persons who know the heart of God and are trained - through…

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I really believe that what we finally want is to know God, as God has come to be known through Jesus. Knowledge…

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I can choose to grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart still responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak…

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As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down…

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It is hard to bear with people who stand still along the way, lose heart, and seek their happiness in little pleasures…

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Through prayer we can carry in our heart all human pain and sorrow, all conflicts and agonies, all torture and war, all…

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The mystery of the spiritual life is that Jesus desires to meet us in the seclusion of our own heart, to make…

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Jesus does not respond to our worry-filled way of living by saying that we should not be so busy with worldly affairs.…

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Somehow, somewhere, I know that God loves me, even though I do not feel that love as I can feel a human…

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Do not despair, thinking that you cannot change yourself after so many years. Simply enter into the presence of Jesus as you…

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The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to…

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When you're on the bus or subway or in your car, why busy your mind with all the garbage of advertisements? Why…

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However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not…

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To forgive another from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist…

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The more you are called to speak for God's love, the more you will need to deepen the knowledge of that love…

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People with handicaps teach me that being is more important than doing, the heart is more important than the mind, and caring…

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Ministers are powerless people who have nothing to boast of except their weaknesses. But when the Lord whom they serve fills them…

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Living a spiritual life requires a change of heart, a conversion. Such a conversion may be marked by a sudden inner change,…

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All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all…

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The Question is not how much are you going to accomplish? Or can you show some results? But are you in love…

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Lord Jesus, master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We whose hearts…

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When we approach fundraising in a spirit of gratitude, our confidence in our mission does not depend on how the person we…

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In 1970 I felt so lonely that I could not give; now I feel so joyful that giving seems easy. I hope…

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Prayer is the way to both the heart of God and the heart of the world - precisely because they have been…

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True Hospitality is welcoming the stranger on her own terms. This kind of hospitality can only be offered by those who've found…

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Think of each wound as you would of a child who has been hurt by a friend. As long as that child…

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Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to…

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Jesus has to be and become ever more the center of my life. It is not enough that Jesus is my teacher,…

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More by Henri Nouwen

We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who…

The more we touch the intimate love of God which creates, sustains, and guides us, the more we recognize the multitude of fruits that…

Feelings of guilt dominate our work as peacemakers we cannot last long. But when we have opened each other's eyes to the great human…

...we all want to hear stories, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Stories connect our little lives with the…

I have found it very important...to let go of my wishes and start hoping.

Simply being with someone is difficult because it asks of us that we share in the other's vulnerability, enter with him or her into…

Somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning.

Jesus says, "Keep your heart on the kingdom first. Keep your heart on God's love. Keep focused on the fact that you are God's…

This sounds very simple and maybe even trite, but very few people know that they are loved without condition or limits.

“The more preoccupied we are with security the more visible the force of death becomes, whether in the form of a pistol beside our…

If you feel a great loneliness and a deep longing for human contact, you have to be extremely discerning...and ask yourself whether this situation…

I choose L'Arche; L'Arche chooses me. I would be dead if I weren't here. I need people to love me and care for me.

The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called…

In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that…

Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.