--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have only one desire, and that is the…" description: "\"I have only one desire, and that is the desire for solitude-to disappear into God, to be submerged in His peace, to be lost in the secret of His Face.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg" --- # I have only one desire, and that is the desire for… ![“I have only one desire, and that is the desire for solitude-to disappear into God, to be submerged in His peace, to be lost in the secret of His Face.” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg) > “I have only one desire, and that is the desire for solitude-to disappear into God, to be submerged in His peace, to be lost in the secret of His Face.” [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 deepest longing is for divine solitude, where one merges with God's peace and presence. **In simple terms:** Desire for spiritual solitude and peace. Key Takeaway Seek quiet moments for divine connection. Themes solitude spirituality divine peace faith Mood contemplative reverent Type spiritual inspirational When to use this quote - retreats - meditation - daily prayer - quiet reflection Key Concepts mysticism contemplative prayer Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance solitude with fellowship? - What practices deepen your sense of divine presence? A Different Perspective Solitude can feel lonely without community support. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-solitude-1548427/) [Disappear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappear/) [Disappear God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappear-god-2712851/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Solitude Disappear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude-disappear-4624366/) [Submerged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/submerged/) ## Related quotes > [“All lovers desire solitude in order to possess each other more completely. They create for each other a new universe inhabited by the two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/all-lovers-desire-solitude-in-order-to-possess-each-other-more/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [In the moment of deep creativity you disappear, God again starts functioning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/in-the-moment-of-deep-creativity-you-disappear-god-again-starts/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [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/) > [“Letter writing allows us to be alone yet connected. 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But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-man-who-fears-to-be-alone-will-never-be-anything-but-lonely-no/) [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/) > [I shall lead you through the loneliness, the solitude you will not understand; but it is my shortcut to your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-shall-lead-you-through-the-loneliness-the-solitude-you-will-not/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [In this age of crowds in which I have determined to be a solitary, perhaps the greatest sin would be to lament the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/in-this-age-of-crowds-in-which-i-have-determined-to-be-a-solitary/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“You drown not by falling in the river but by staying submerged in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-drown-not-by-falling-in-the-river-but-by-staying-submerged-in-it/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I am simply submerged in work from five in the morning to eleven at night; almost need a few days off to escape a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-neutra/i-am-simply-submerged-in-work-from-five-in-the-morning-to-eleven-at/) [Richard Neutra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-neutra/) > [Go out and speak for the inarticulate and the submerged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-aitken-lord-beaverbrook/go-out-and-speak-for-the-inarticulate-and-the-submerged/) [Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-aitken-lord-beaverbrook/) > [There is nothing to be found in a beehive that is not submerged in a bee. And yet you can search a bee forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/there-is-nothing-to-be-found-in-a-beehive-that-is-not-submerged-in-a/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) ## 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/) [Explore all 851 Thomas Merton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have only one desire, and that is the desire for solitude-to disappear into God, to be submerged in His peace, to be lost in the secret of His Face.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-desire-for-solitude-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-desire-for-solitude-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bd/thomas-merton-231_desire_i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-d_2979118.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have only one desire, and that is the desire for solitude-to disappear into God, to be submerged in His…” — Thomas Merton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Merton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I have only one desire, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-desire-for-solitude-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/i-have-only-one-desire-and-that-is-the-desire-for-solitude-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```