--- title: "13 Perfect Quotes By Thomas Merton" description: "13 Perfect quotes by Thomas Merton. Plus more from Thomas Merton and more Perfect sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/thomas-merton-231_best-love_love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-fr_822989.jpg" --- > [Love is perfect in proportion to it's freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-freedom/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/thomas-merton-231_best-love_love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-fr_822989.jpg) > [A humble man is not afraid of failure. In fact, he is not afraid of anything, even himself, since perfect humility implies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/a-humble-man-is-not-afraid-of-failure-in-fact-he-is-not-afraid-of/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/thomas-merton-231_afraid-of-failure_a-humble-man-is-not-afraid-of-failure-in_1696792.jpg) > [Love is not a mere emotion or sentiment. It is the lucid and ardent responses of the whole person to a value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-is-not-a-mere-emotion-or-sentiment-it-is-the-lucid-and-ardent/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/thomas-merton-231_ardent_love-is-not-a-mere-emotion-or-sentiment_222620.jpg) > [For perfect hope is achieved on the brink of despair, when instead of falling over the edge, we find ourselves walking on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/for-perfect-hope-is-achieved-on-the-brink-of-despair-when-instead-of/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/thomas-merton-231_air_for-perfect-hope-is-achieved-on-the-brin_2708871.jpg) > [The Holy Spirit is the most perfect gift of the Father to men, and yet He is the one gift which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-holy-spirit-is-the-most-perfect-gift-of-the-father-to-men-and-yet/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50b/thomas-merton-231_father_the-holy-spirit-is-the-most-perfect-gift_1800394.jpg) > [a man can radically change his life and attain to a deeper meaning, a more perfect integration, a more complete fulfillment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/a-man-can-radically-change-his-life-and-attain-to-a-deeper-meaning-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e2/thomas-merton-231_active_a-man-can-radically-change-his-life-and_1764840.jpg) > [The whole function of the life of prayer is, then, to enlighten and strengthen our conscience so that it not only knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-whole-function-of-the-life-of-prayer-is-then-to-enlighten-and/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d59/thomas-merton-231_concrete_the-whole-function-of-the-life-of-prayer_3123223.jpg) > [We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in darkness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/we-cannot-arrive-at-the-perfect-possession-of-god-in-this-life-and/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/thomas-merton-231_darkness_we-cannot-arrive-at-the-perfect-possessi_509644.jpg) > [You will never be able to have perfect interior peace and recollection unless you are detached even from the desire of peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/you-will-never-be-able-to-have-perfect-interior-peace-and/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/758/thomas-merton-231_able_you-will-never-be-able-to-have-perfect-i_1063123.jpg) > [To become attached to the experience of peace is to threaten the true and essential and vital union of our soul with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-become-attached-to-the-experience-of-peace-is-to-threaten-the-true/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/thomas-merton-231_darkness_to-become-attached-to-the-experience-of_1293553.jpg) > [The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-lord-did-not-create-suffering-pain-and-death-came-into-the-world/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55a/thomas-merton-231_chosen_the-lord-did-not-create-suffering-pain-a_1530924.jpg) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of…](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/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/thomas-merton-231_answers_it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate_12021.jpg) > [The soul of man, left to its own natural level, is a potentially lucid crystal left in darkness. It is perfect in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-soul-of-man-left-to-its-own-natural-level-is-a-potentially-lucid/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/881/thomas-merton-231_crystals_the-soul-of-man-left-to-its-own-natural_3112375.jpg) ## Other authors on Perfect ## 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/perfect/thomas-merton/#itemlist", "name": "13 Perfect Quotes By Thomas Merton", "numberOfItems": 13, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Love is perfect in proportion to it's freedom.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-freedom/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/thomas-merton-231_best-love_love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-fr_822989.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/thomas-merton-231_best-love_love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-fr_822989.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d83/thomas-merton-231_best-love_love-is-perfect-in-proportion-to-it-s-fr_822989.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Love is perfect in proportion to it's freedom.” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A humble man is not afraid of failure. 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But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore in that sense we have arrived and are dwelling in the light. But oh! How far have I to go to find You in Whom I have already arrived!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/we-cannot-arrive-at-the-perfect-possession-of-god-in-this-life-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/thomas-merton-231_darkness_we-cannot-arrive-at-the-perfect-possessi_509644.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/thomas-merton-231_darkness_we-cannot-arrive-at-the-perfect-possessi_509644.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/thomas-merton-231_darkness_we-cannot-arrive-at-the-perfect-possessi_509644.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You will never be able to have perfect interior peace and recollection unless you are detached even from the desire of peace and recollection. You will never be able to pray perfectly until you are detached from the pleasures of prayer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/you-will-never-be-able-to-have-perfect-interior-peace-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/758/thomas-merton-231_able_you-will-never-be-able-to-have-perfect-i_1063123.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/758/thomas-merton-231_able_you-will-never-be-able-to-have-perfect-i_1063123.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/758/thomas-merton-231_able_you-will-never-be-able-to-have-perfect-i_1063123.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You will never be able to have perfect interior peace and recollection unless you are detached even from the…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To become attached to the experience of peace is to threaten the true and essential and vital union of our soul with God above sense and experience in the darkness of a pure and perfect love.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-become-attached-to-the-experience-of-peace-is-to-threaten-the-true/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/thomas-merton-231_darkness_to-become-attached-to-the-experience-of_1293553.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/thomas-merton-231_darkness_to-become-attached-to-the-experience-of_1293553.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/thomas-merton-231_darkness_to-become-attached-to-the-experience-of_1293553.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To become attached to the experience of peace is to threaten the true and essential and vital union of our…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man had chosen suffering in preference to the joys of union with God, the Lord turned suffering itself into a way by which man could come to the perfect knowledge of God.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-lord-did-not-create-suffering-pain-and-death-came-into-the-world/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55a/thomas-merton-231_chosen_the-lord-did-not-create-suffering-pain-a_1530924.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55a/thomas-merton-231_chosen_the-lord-did-not-create-suffering-pain-a_1530924.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55a/thomas-merton-231_chosen_the-lord-did-not-create-suffering-pain-a_1530924.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Lord did not create suffering. Pain and death came into the world with the fall of man. But after man…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is the beginning of blessedness and the consummation of humility is the perfection of all joy. Humility contains in itself the answer to all the great problems of the life of the soul. It is the only key to faith, with which the spiritual life begins: for faith and humility are inseparable. In perfect humility all selfishness disappears and your soul no longer lives for itself or in itself for God: and it is lost and submerged in Him and transformed into Him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/thomas-merton-231_answers_it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate_12021.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/thomas-merton-231_answers_it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate_12021.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49c/thomas-merton-231_answers_it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate_12021.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The soul of man, left to its own natural level, is a potentially lucid crystal left in darkness. It is perfect in its own nature, but it lacks something that it can only receive from outside and above itself. But when the light shines in it, it becomes in a manner transformed into light and seems to lose its nature in the splendor of a higher nature, the nature of the light that is in it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-soul-of-man-left-to-its-own-natural-level-is-a-potentially-lucid/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/881/thomas-merton-231_crystals_the-soul-of-man-left-to-its-own-natural_3112375.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/881/thomas-merton-231_crystals_the-soul-of-man-left-to-its-own-natural_3112375.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/881/thomas-merton-231_crystals_the-soul-of-man-left-to-its-own-natural_3112375.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The soul of man, left to its own natural level, is a potentially lucid crystal left in darkness. 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