--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What can we gain by sailing to the moon…" description: "\"What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?\" — Thomas Merton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg" --- # What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross… ![“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg) > “What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?” [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. Explores the paradox of seeking external achievements while neglecting inner growth. **In simple terms:** External quests ignore inner self. Key Takeaway Focus on inner development before external goals. Themes spirituality self‑knowledge paradox Mood contemplative thought‑provoking Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal meditation - therapy - creative projects - leadership development Key Concepts inner growth meaning existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What inner aspects need attention? - How can inner work guide external pursuits? A Different Perspective Neglecting inner work can cause emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) [Abyss Separates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss-separates-4882060/) [Cross Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cross-abyss-788508/) [Crosses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crosses/) [Full moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/full-moon/) [Gain Sailing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gain-sailing-5475706/) [Gains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gains/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Sailing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sailing/) [Sailing Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sailing-moon-4882059/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Voyages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyages/) [Voyages of discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voyages-of-discovery/) ## Related quotes > [What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? 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(The real voyage of discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/le-veritable-voyage-de-decouverte-ne-consiste-pas-a-chercher-de/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## 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. 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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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It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I admire the Elsie Tanners and Barbara Windsors of the world: people who have crawled back from the abyss. I'm quite camp in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-eclair/i-admire-the-elsie-tanners-and-barbara-windsors-of-the-world-people/) [Jenny Eclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-eclair/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) > [I look into my heart and see the abyss looking back at me.' 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Many only achieve a local orgasm, a genital orgasm;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-women-don-t-know-what-orgasm-is-many-men-don-t-know-was-total/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fear not. For fear itself is fed by fear, and all fears pass. Did no one tell you so? Come take my hand, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/fear-not-for-fear-itself-is-fed-by-fear-and-all-fears-pass-did-no-one/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) [Browse all 625 Abyss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Merton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon-if-we-cannot-cross-the-abyss/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abyss" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon-if-we-cannot-cross-the-abyss/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e1/thomas-merton-231_abyss_what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon_2308759.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from 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": "What can we gain by sailing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon-if-we-cannot-cross-the-abyss/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/what-can-we-gain-by-sailing-to-the-moon-if-we-cannot-cross-the-abyss/#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 } } ] } ```