30 Quotes About Monasticism

Death is someone you see very clearly with eyes in the center of your heart: eyes that see not by reacting to light, but by reacting to a kind of a chill from within the marrow of your own life.

You were contemplating the mountain, Mr. Conway?" Came the inquiry."Yes, it's a fine sight. It has a name, I suppose?""It is called Karakal""I don't think I've ever heard of it. Is is very high?""Over twenty-eight thousand feet.""Indeed? I didn't realize there would be anything on that scale outside the Himalayas. Has it been properly surveyed? Whose are the measurements?""Whose would you expect, my dear sir? Is there anything incompatible between monasticism and trigonometry?

The Lord does not require us to wear a [cassock] — He wants us to be good and kind.

We [vowed religious; nuns, monks] want to be squares, and we want others to be square, also. That's what religious have been doing. They're part of a square society. And let me be quite clear about the fact that liberalism doesn't get you off this hook, because liberals are part of the square society, too. It's better to be a liberal than a conservative, but they're both equally square.

Living a secluded life in a monastery, separated from society, is not holiness, it's hysteria. Seclusion doesn't make you holy, kindness does.

I keep vigil over the stories of men and the stories of things, in case I can discern some secret message of my Love.

[T]o the man who beseeches the Lord all things are given, not because we are worthy but because the Lord is merciful and loves us.

When a small child calls out, "I want bread! I am hungry," does his mother not...prepare him something to eat? Likewise, if all day we call out, "We want to be saved!...Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us." will Christ not send us His mercy?

The purpose of judgment must be that the one you are judging should mend his ways, and you must be compassionate with every soul...and in all things preserve a clear conscience yourself. Then deep peace will reign in mind and soul.