854 Quotes by Thomas Merton

May God prevent us from becoming "right-thinking men"-that is to say men who agree perfectly with their own police.

It might be good to open our eyes and see.

Duty does not have to be dull. Love can make it beautiful and fill it with life.

We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.

The only true liberty is in the service of that which is beyond all limits, beyond all definitions, beyond all human appreciation: that which is All, and which therefore is no limited or individual thing: The All is no-thing, for if it were to be a single thing separated from all other things, it would not be All.

In general, it can be said that no contemplative life is possible without ascetic self-discipline. One must learn to survive without the habit-forming luxuries which get such a hold on men today. I do not say that to be a contemplative one absolutely has to go without smoking or without alcohol, but certainly one must be able to use these things without being dominated by an uncontrolled need for them.

My spiritual goal is to one day walk into God and disappear.

People are in a hurry to magnify themselves by imitating what is popular- and too lazy to think of anything better.

To be alone by being part of the universe-fitting in completely to an environment of woods and silence and peace. Everything you do becomes a unity and a prayer. Unity within and without.