Henri Nouwen

Our first responsibility in the midst of violence is to prevent it from destroying us.

— Henri Nouwen

For many, religion has to do with what we are allowed to do and not allowed to do. In the end, that…

— Henri Nouwen

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

— Henri Nouwen

If we want other people to give us something that only God can give, we become a demon. We say, "Love me!"…

— Henri Nouwen

“The church itself is a spiritual director. It tries to connect your story with God's story. Just to be a true part…

— Henri Nouwen

Nuclear man is the man who realizes that his creative powers hold the potential for self-destruction. He sees that in this nuclear…

— Henri Nouwen

Where is peace to be found? The answer is surprising but clear. In weakness. Why there? Because in our weakness, our familiar…

— Henri Nouwen

Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your…

— Henri Nouwen

We just have to recognize life for what it is: a gift to be grateful for, not a property to cling to,…

— Henri Nouwen

“Solitude is the furnace in which transformation takes place.”

— Henri Nouwen

The dance of life finds its beginnings in grief......Here a completely new way of living is revealed. It is the way in…

— Henri Nouwen

...When you can look into the face of human beings and you have enough light to recognize them as your brothers and…

— Henri Nouwen

Where are you getting your affection? Who's touching you? Who's holding you? Who makes you feel alive? Who says, "You are a…

— Henri Nouwen

Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering – for us. And calling us…

— Henri Nouwen

Solitude is very different from a 'time-out' from our busy lives. Solitude is the very ground from which community grows. Whenever we…

— Henri Nouwen

I wrote to my bishop, the Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland, and explained that I wanted not just permission to stay longer, but…

— Henri Nouwen

Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without…

— Henri Nouwen

To be baptized means to make the passage with the people of Israel and with Jesus from slavery to freedom and from…

— Henri Nouwen

As long as we relate to the trees, the rivers, the mountains, the fields and the oceans as properties which we can…

— Henri Nouwen

Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not, 'How can…

— Henri Nouwen

The tragedy of our lives is that, while we suffer from the wounds afflicted on us by those who love us, we…

— 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

This brief lifetime is my opportunity to receive love, deepen love, grow in love, and give love.

— Henri Nouwen

Our inclination is to show our Lord only what we feel comfortable with. But the more we dare to reveal our whole…

— Henri Nouwen

In their poverty, the mentally handicapped reveal God to us and hold us close to the gospel.

— Henri Nouwen