--- title: "4 Hopeless Quotes By Thomas Merton" description: "4 Hopeless quotes by Thomas Merton. Plus more from Thomas Merton and more Hopeless sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/thomas-merton-231_despair_a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-lite_363720.jpg" --- > [A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless, than one that always verges on despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-literally-be-more-hopeless-than/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/thomas-merton-231_despair_a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-lite_363720.jpg) > [Only the man who has had to face despair is really convinced that he needs mercy. Those who do not want mercy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/only-the-man-who-has-had-to-face-despair-is-really-convinced-that-he/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e49/thomas-merton-231_compassion_only-the-man-who-has-had-to-face-despair_551952.jpg) > [Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/many-poets-are-not-poets-for-the-same-reason-that-many-religious-men/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbb/thomas-merton-231_artist_many-poets-are-not-poets-for-the-same-re_1541436.jpg) > [On Pride: This sickness is most dangerous when it succeeds in looking like humility. When a proud man thinks he is humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/on-pride-this-sickness-is-most-dangerous-when-it-succeeds-in-looking/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcd/thomas-merton-231_cases_on-pride-this-sickness-is-most-dangerous_2589171.jpg) ## Other authors on Hopeless ## 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/hopeless/thomas-merton/#itemlist", "name": "4 Hopeless Quotes By Thomas Merton", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless, than one that always verges on despair.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-literally-be-more-hopeless-than/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/thomas-merton-231_despair_a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-lite_363720.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/thomas-merton-231_despair_a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-lite_363720.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/thomas-merton-231_despair_a-life-that-is-without-problems-may-lite_363720.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless, than one that always verges on despair.” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Only the man who has had to face despair is really convinced that he needs mercy. 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