--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does it mean to know and experience…" description: "\"What does it mean to know and experience my own “nothingness?” It is not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and mistakes, to s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/762/thomas-merton-231_disgusting_what-does-it-mean-to-know-and-experience_1003705.jpg" --- # What does it mean to know and experience my own… ![“What does it mean to know and experience my own “nothingness?” It is not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and mistakes, to separate myself from them as if they were not, and as if I were someone other than myself. This kind of self-annihilati on is only a worse illusion…” quote by Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/762/thomas-merton-231_disgusting_what-does-it-mean-to-know-and-experience_1003705.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/762/thomas-merton-231_disgusting_what-does-it-mean-to-know-and-experience_1003705.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/762/thomas-merton-231_disgusting_what-does-it-mean-to-know-and-experience_1003705.jpg) > “What does it mean to know and experience my own “nothingness?” It is not enough to turn away in disgust from my illusions and faults and mistakes, to separate myself from them as if they were not, and as if I were someone other than myself. This kind of self-annihilati on is only a worse illusion, it is a pretended humility which, by saying “I am nothing” I mean in effect “I wish I were not what I am.” [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. True self‑knowledge requires confronting one’s flaws without denying or escaping them, not by claiming emptiness but by accepting one’s full humanity. **In simple terms:** Accept yourself fully, not by denying your faults. Key Takeaway Embrace your whole self. Themes self‑acceptance authenticity humility Mood reflective serene Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal growth - therapy - spiritual practice - mindfulness Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can I face my flaws without self‑judgment? - What does humility look like when I accept myself? A Different Perspective Claiming “nothingness” can become a new ego trap. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disgusting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgusting/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Experience Nothingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-nothingness-550780/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Faults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faults/) [Humility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Nothingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness/) [Nothingness Turn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothingness-turn-2134150/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Annihilati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-annihilati-2134151/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [Like the hollow nothingness within the seed of a tree, which contains the potential of the entire tree, the experience of nothingness in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/like-the-hollow-nothingness-within-the-seed-of-a-tree-which-contains/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) > [“It is not true that you feel something when you are in an accident. 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But we must love it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-love-our-nothingness-we-must-love-everything-in-us-that-the-proud/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-center-of-our-being-is-a-point-of-nothingness-which-is-untouched/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/at-the-center-of-our-being-is-a-point-of-nothingness-which-is/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [My loneliness...still comes over me sometimes...It's a liminal, lost sensation of having wandered wide, endless boulevards, among rows of orange trees, winter butterflies, seasons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-roth/my-loneliness-still-comes-over-me-sometimes-it-s-a-liminal-lost/) [Marco Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-roth/) > [“ Programs has a temporary results leading to nothingness, and the Gospel the brings the result of Eternal life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommie-scott/programs-has-a-temporary-results-leading-to-nothingness-and-the/) [Tommie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommie-scott/) > [“I was introduced to the void by the rebuffed nothingness. 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But I derive my hope above all, and most especially, from our utter incapacity, for it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-guerin/the-community-s-crosses-and-trials-give-me-confidence-but-i-derive-my/) [Theodore Guerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-guerin/) > [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/) [Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) ## More by Thomas Merton > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. 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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. 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 Disgusting quotes > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [I wonder what disgusts you more, the fact that I’m a demon, or the fact that when I touch you, it doesn’t matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larissa-ione/i-wonder-what-disgusts-you-more-the-fact-that-i-m-a-demon-or-the-fact/) [Larissa Ione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larissa-ione/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. 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