Spiritual Quotes by Henri Nouwen

Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome…

— Henri Nouwen

Although I am a committed Catholic priest, and nowhere hide that fact, my focus is very much a spiritual journey.

— Henri Nouwen

Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next.

— Henri Nouwen

The spiritual life is a reaching out to our innermost self, to our fellow human and to our God.

— Henri Nouwen

Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved.

— Henri Nouwen

Waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.

— Henri Nouwen

One way to express the spiritual crisis of our time is to say that most of us have an address but cannot…

— Henri Nouwen

Friendship has always belonged to the core of my spiritual journey.

— Henri Nouwen

I still believe that the university is a place where people can develop their minds and learn skills, but also they can…

— Henri Nouwen

Without Pentecost the Christ-event - the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think…

— Henri Nouwen

Spiritual identity means we are not what we do or what people say about us. And we are not what we have.…

— Henri Nouwen

Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves…

— Henri Nouwen

The spiritual life is a life beyond moods. It is a life in which we choose joy and do not allow ourselves…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and…

— Henri Nouwen

I have an increasing sense that the most important crisis of our time is spiritual and that we need places where people…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

I am beginning now to see how radically the character of my spiritual journey will change when I no longer think of…

— Henri Nouwen

It's not easy to sit and trust that in solitude God will speak to you - not as a magical voice but…

— Henri Nouwen

Perhaps nothing helps us make the movement from our little selves to a larger world than remembering God in gratitude. Such a…

— Henri Nouwen

Compassion- which means, literally, "to suffer with"- is the way to the truth that we are most ourselves, not when we differ…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

Jesus invites us to abide in his love. That means to dwell with all that I am in him. It is an…

— Henri Nouwen

In a strange way the spiritual life isn't "useful" or "successful." But it is meant to be fruitful. And fruitfulness comes out…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

[The Return of the Prodigal book] came out of my emotional and spiritual journey during the four months I was gone from…

— Henri Nouwen

“The spiritual life is a gift. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who lifts us up into the kingdom of…

— Henri Nouwen

It is not that the university as such is against spiritual formation. It is just that often the university does not know…

— Henri Nouwen

Each individual human being can claim the Spirit of Jesus as the guiding spirit of his or her life. In that Spirit…

— Henri Nouwen

To receive spiritual direction is to recognize that God does not solve our problems or answer all our questions, but leads us…

— Henri Nouwen

For me the university has always been an ideal context for spiritual formation. I always felt that if you want to offer…

— Henri Nouwen

The spiritual life is not a life before, after, or beyond our everyday existence. No, the spiritual life can only be real…

— Henri Nouwen

To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of loneliness and to change it…

— Henri Nouwen

Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. ...We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do…

— Henri Nouwen

Solitude is an essential element for the spiritual health of a child. If we only stimulate our children - keep them busy…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

It is precisely in times of spiritual dryness that we must hold on to our spiritual discipline so that we can grow…

— Henri Nouwen