--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because You have called me here not to…" description: "\"Because You have called me here not to wear a label by which I can recognize myself and place myself in some kind of a category. You do not want me to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/thomas-merton-231_categories_because-you-have-called-me-here-not-to-w_2597890.jpg" --- # Because You have called me here not to wear a label by… ![“Because You have called me here not to wear a label by which I can recognize myself and place myself in some kind of a category. You do not want me to be thinking about what I am, but about what You are. Or rather, You do not even want me to be thinking about anything much: for You would raise me…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/thomas-merton-231_categories_because-you-have-called-me-here-not-to-w_2597890.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/thomas-merton-231_categories_because-you-have-called-me-here-not-to-w_2597890.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/390/thomas-merton-231_categories_because-you-have-called-me-here-not-to-w_2597890.jpg) > “Because You have called me here not to wear a label by which I can recognize myself and place myself in some kind of a category. You do not want me to be thinking about what I am, but about what You are. Or rather, You do not even want me to be thinking about anything much: for You would raise me above the level of thought. And if I am always trying to figure out what I am and where I am and why I am, how will that work be done?” [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote urges focusing on the divine rather than self‑definition, transcending intellectual categorization. **In simple terms:** Focus on the divine, not self‑labels. Key Takeaway Seek God, not identity. Themes spirituality self‑knowledge transcendence Mood contemplative reverent Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - prayer - meditation - contemplative practice - spiritual retreat Key Concepts theology mysticism identity Questions to Reflect On - How can you shift attention from self‑analysis to divine awareness? - What habits keep you stuck in identity thinking? A Different Perspective Human minds naturally seek categorization, which can distract from deeper communion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Categories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/categories/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Labels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labels/) [Level Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/level-thought-1918341/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Raises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/raises/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thought Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-trying-1042622/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-me/) [Want Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-thinking-883518/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [“Examining languages as profoundly different systems of ways of thinking, we can expect from the presumed replacement in the future of the diversity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oleksander-potebnja/examining-languages-as-profoundly-different-systems-of-ways-of/) [Oleksander Potebnja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oleksander-potebnja/) > [Life externalizes at the level of our thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/life-externalizes-at-the-level-of-our-thought/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [Just as I do not know where I came from, so I do not know where I am going. 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I can appreciate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-fitzgerald/i-don-t-really-want-to-be-thinking-about-the-business-all-the-time/) [Tara Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-fitzgerald/) > [“All I want you thinking about is being here with me, right now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-wild/all-i-want-you-thinking-about-is-being-here-with-me-right-now/) [Meredith Wild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-wild/) > [The only reason why people do not have what they want is because they are thinking more about what they don't want than what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/the-only-reason-why-people-do-not-have-what-they-want-is-because-they/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [I don't want to follow comedians because I don't want to see what they're thinking about, 'cause then maybe I won't stumble across a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-thune/i-don-t-want-to-follow-comedians-because-i-don-t-want-to-see-what/) [Nick Thune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-thune/) ## 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. 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For me it \[policy\] is about concepts and substance. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-claude-juncker/i-don-t-think-in-national-categories-for-me-it-policy-is-about/) [Jean-Claude Juncker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-claude-juncker/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhonda-byrne/we-don-t-need-to-complicate-all-the-reasons-behind-our-emotions-it-s/) [Rhonda Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhonda-byrne/) > [I put the truth out there, I put the historical facts into Hip Hop to show us how much history repeats itself and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immortal-technique/i-put-the-truth-out-there-i-put-the-historical-facts-into-hip-hop-to/) [Immortal Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immortal-technique/) > [I am devoting my lecture in this seminar to a discussion of the possibility that we are now entering a Jewish century, a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-a-siegel/i-am-devoting-my-lecture-in-this-seminar-to-a-discussion-of-the/) [Martin A. 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