Community Quote by Basil Hume

There is a basic problem that a lot of Western monks and nuns become ordained without really understanding or appreciating what the monastic life…

— Tenzin Palmo

“From the point of view of history, of reason, and of truth, monasticism is condemned. Monasteries, when they abound in a nation, are clogs…

— Victor Hugo

“In all poor countries, where general culture is not very advanced, monasteries give to the masses the silence, poetry and music, for which their…

— Lyubov Dostoyevskaya

Monks transgress the Laws of the Buddha, stir up the common people, store wealth and weapons, and spread rumors; under the guise of religion,…

— Eiji Yoshikawa

The problem with monasteries, ashrams, convents is these institutions become extremely political. In other words, they're really small societies, and much of what you…

— Frederick Lenz

Artists are the monks of the bourgeois state.

— Cesare Pavese

I know people who are both extremely wealthy, people who are middle class and people with little material wealth. Whatever their circumstance may be,…

— Radhanath Swami

Monks are not expected to speak about themselves; the message is important, not the person.

— Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

The monastic folks have the spirit of being in the world but not of the world, sort of peculiar people who have gone to…

— Shane Claiborne

“Do not gossip about monks and speak ill of spiritual teachers”

— Shri Radhe Maa

“Monks and writers lead very similar lives. We spend our best time in retreat from the world, anxious to make something of our rich…

— Rougeau a Benedictine Monk

“Being a monk was the strangest and most perverted way of life imaginable. Monks spent half their lives putting themselves through pain and discomfort…

— Ken Follett