May Quotes by Thomas Merton

People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder…

— Thomas Merton

For the ones who are called saints by human opinion on earth may very well be devils, and their light may very…

— Thomas Merton

A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless, than one that always verges on despair.

— Thomas Merton

May God prevent us from becoming "right-thinking men"-that is to say men who agree perfectly with their own police.

— Thomas Merton

May we all grow in grace and peace and not neglect the silence that is printed in the center of our being.…

— Thomas Merton

Christ is born to us today, in order that he may appear to the whole world through us.

— Thomas Merton

The sacred attitude is, then, one of deep and fundamental respect for the real in whatever new form it may present itself.

— Thomas Merton

When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my own country may cease to want war, but…

— Thomas Merton

No matter how ruined man and his world may seem to be, and no matter how terrible man's despair may become, as…

— Thomas Merton

We do not pray for the sake of praying, but for the sake of being heard. We do not pray in order…

— Thomas Merton

God has left sin in the world in order that there may be forgiveness: not only the secret forgiveness by which He…

— Thomas Merton

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me...you will lead…

— Thomas Merton

“I seek to speak to you, in some way, as your own self. Who can tell what this may mean? I myself…

— Thomas Merton

To be risen with Christ means not only that one has a choice and that one may live by a higher law…

— Thomas Merton

True happiness is not found in any other reward than that of being united with God. If I seek some other reward…

— Thomas Merton

In the natural order no matter what ideals may be theoretically possible, most people more or less live for themselves and for…

— Thomas Merton

I believe we are going to have to prepare ourselves for the difficult and patient task of outgrowing rigid and intransigent nationalism,…

— Thomas Merton

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

— Thomas Merton

The man who fears to be alone will never be anything but lonely, no matter how much he may surround himself with…

— Thomas Merton

A purely mental life may be destructive if it leads us to substitute thought for life and ideas for actions. The activity…

— 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…

— Thomas Merton

The land which thou goest to possess is not like the land of Egypt from whence thou camest out... For my thoughts…

— Thomas Merton

The thing about Zen is that it pushes contradictions to their ultimate limit where one has to choose between madness and innocence.…

— Thomas Merton

But the man who is not afraid to admit everything that he sees to be wrong with himself, and yet recognizes that…

— Thomas Merton

God must be allowed the right to speak unpredictably… We must find him in our enemy, or we may lose him even…

— Thomas Merton

God, Who is everywhere, never leaves us. Yet He seems sometimes to be present, sometimes to be absent. If we do not…

— Thomas Merton

Zen enriches no one. There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while in the…

— Thomas Merton

I had refused to pay any attention to the moral laws upon which all our vitality and sanity depend: and so now…

— Thomas Merton

We know when we are following our vocation when our soul is set free from preoccupation with itself and is able to…

— Thomas Merton

The reality that is present to us and in us: call it being...Silence. And the simple fact that by being attentive, by…

— Thomas Merton

Only the man who has had to face despair is really convinced that he needs mercy. Those who do not want mercy…

— Thomas Merton

The modern child may early in his or her existence have natural inclinations toward spirituality. The child may have imagination, originality, a…

— Thomas Merton

Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless…

— Thomas Merton

Place no hope in the feeling of assurance, in spiritual comfort. You may well have to get along without this. Place no…

— Thomas Merton

We cannot master everything, taste everything, understand everything, drain every experience to its last dregs. But if we have the courage to…

— Thomas Merton