--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In order to find God in ourselves, we…" description: "\"In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg" --- # In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at… ![“In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be content to be in Him and to do whatever He wills, according to our limitations, judging our acts not in the light of our own illusions, but in the…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg) > “In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be content to be in Him and to do whatever He wills, according to our limitations, judging our acts not in the light of our own illusions, but in the light of His reality which is all around us in the things and people we live with.” [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. Finding God requires surrendering self‑judgment and aligning actions with divine reality, not personal illusion. **In simple terms:** Seek God beyond self‑image. Key Takeaway Release self‑criticism, follow divine will. Themes spirituality humility divine self‑judgment reality limitation Mood contemplative humble Type spiritual reflective When to use this quote - prayer - service - community living Key Concepts Theology mysticism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern divine reality? - What limits your ability to let go of self‑judgment? A Different Perspective Human limitations may hinder full surrender. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Futility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futility/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [Silly girl, stop staying up every night hoping he'll text you, Stop checking your phone ever minuet expecting a message from him, stop wasting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/silly-girl-stop-staying-up-every-night-hoping-he-ll-text-you-stop/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop checking your phone nobody loves you! - me at the cinema to anyone checking their phone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/green-monk/stop-checking-your-phone-nobody-loves-you-me-at-the-cinema-to-anyone/) [Green Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/green-monk/) > [You have to stop looking in the mirror and realize that your living for yourself, not other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/you-have-to-stop-looking-in-the-mirror-and-realize-that-your-living/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Sins desire will take you down to the fire but God's the only one who can stop the twisted liar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zion-y-lennox/sins-desire-will-take-you-down-to-the-fire-but-god-s-the-only-one-who/) [Zion Y Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zion-y-lennox/) > [He said blow it down for me. Sticks and stones make the homes. But only God can stop the wolves. Don't fraternize with pigs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/he-said-blow-it-down-for-me-sticks-and-stones-make-the-homes-but-only/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [Be a God to someone who stop believing on God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/be-a-god-to-someone-who-stop-believing-on-god/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-then-i-were-asked-for-the-most-important-advice-i-could-give-that/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The white man's dollar is his god, and to stop this will be to stop outrages in many localities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-white-man-s-dollar-is-his-god-and-to-stop-this-will-be-to-stop/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [You wanna see God? stop doing what's bad for you & others. Than all you need to do is open your heart & eyes.You'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince-rasooli/you-wanna-see-god-stop-doing-what-s-bad-for-you-others-than-all-you/) Prince Rasooli > [“There's probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/british-humanist-association/there-s-probably-no-god-now-stop-worrying-and-enjoy-your-life/) British Humanist Association > [“You cannot make God stop loving you, because his love is based on who he is, not what you do. It is based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/you-cannot-make-god-stop-loving-you-because-his-love-is-based-on-who/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [“We’re invited not to set out and find God, but to stop running and be found.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ryan-butler/we-re-invited-not-to-set-out-and-find-god-but-to-stop-running-and-be/) [Joshua Ryan Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ryan-butler/) > [Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn't care to, or he doesn't exist. God is either impotent, evil,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/either-god-can-do-nothing-to-stop-catastrophes-like-this-or-he-doesn/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [How wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. . . . We are to find God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/how-wrong-it-is-to-use-god-as-a-stop-gap-for-the-incompleteness-of/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. You could try, but you simply can't do it - because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/there-is-nothing-you-can-do-that-will-make-god-stop-loving-you-you/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) ## 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 Futility quotes > [Married life had taught him the futility of arguing with a female in a dark-brown mood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/married-life-had-taught-him-the-futility-of-arguing-with-a-female-in/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I am alive again, now that I can no longer stand to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/i-am-alive-again-now-that-i-can-no-longer-stand-to-live/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“The nobility of age is that it conceals from the young the futility of effort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yeo-tze/the-nobility-of-age-is-that-it-conceals-from-the-young-the-futility/) Yeo-tze > [“Dabbling in the sandbox gives Rabbit a small headache. Over at the pavilion the rubber thump of Roofball and the click of checkers call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/dabbling-in-the-sandbox-gives-rabbit-a-small-headache-over-at-the/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Death is the only monastery; the tomb is the only cell, and the grave that adjoins the convent is the bitterest mock of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/death-is-the-only-monastery-the-tomb-is-the-only-cell-and-the-grave/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [It occurred to me that my speech or my silence, indeed any action of mine, would be a mere futility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/it-occurred-to-me-that-my-speech-or-my-silence-indeed-any-action-of/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [A mature artist is at the same time aware of the futility of his achievement and the validity of the pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-helion/a-mature-artist-is-at-the-same-time-aware-of-the-futility-of-his/) [Jean Helion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-helion/) > [Suddenly the clouds seem high above us. They’re moving over us in an arch, circling the planet. They have seen abysmal oceans and charred,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/suddenly-the-clouds-seem-high-above-us-they-re-moving-over-us-in-an/) [Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/) > [“She strives, understanding the futility of it, for perfection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/she-strives-understanding-the-futility-of-it-for-perfection/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) > [“Uite, daca-mi strang sufletul, nu se prinde nimic in el. Oricum, am ajuns departe, foarte departe. O mai fi ceva? Arborii cresc, le dau…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marin-sorescu/uite-daca-mi-strang-sufletul-nu-se-prinde-nimic-in-el-oricum-am-ajuns/) [Marin Sorescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marin-sorescu/) > [“There are the girls we love, the men we look up to, the tenderness, the friendships, the opportunities, the pleasures! But the fact remains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/there-are-the-girls-we-love-the-men-we-look-up-to-the-tenderness-the/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [“    In a thousand years or ten thousand, no one would remember my nation. It, too, would share in oblivion and prove to not matter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miller-rory/in-a-thousand-years-or-ten-thousand-no-one-would-remember-my-nation/) Miller Rory > [“...he arrived late at the office, perceived that his doing so made no difference whatever to any one, and was filled with sudden exasperation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-arrived-late-at-the-office-perceived-that-his-doing-so-made-no/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Automobiles are often conveniently tagged as the villains responsible for the ills of cities and the disappointments and futilities of city planning. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The fatal futility of Fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-fatal-futility-of-fact/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) [Browse all 297 Futility quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futility/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be content to be in Him and to do whatever He wills, according to our limitations, judging our acts not in the light of our own illusions, but in the light of His reality which is all around us in the things and people we live with.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-must-stop-looking-at-ourselves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Futility" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-must-stop-looking-at-ourselves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/653/thomas-merton-231_futility_in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-mus_2922707.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves…” — 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": "In order to find God in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-must-stop-looking-at-ourselves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/in-order-to-find-god-in-ourselves-we-must-stop-looking-at-ourselves/#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 } } ] } ```