Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O.was an American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. In 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name Father Louis...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth31 January 1915
CityPrades, France
CountryUnited States of America
power men guarantees
For power can guarantee the interests of some men but it can never foster the good of man. Power always protects the good of some at the expense of all the others. Only love can attain and preserve the good of all. Any claim to build the security of all on force is a manifest imposture.
imagination kind obscure
We refuse love, and reject society, in so far as it seems, in our own perverse imagination, to imply some obscure kind of humiliation
opposites want waste
Why do we have to spend our lives striving to be something that we would never want to be, if we only knew what we wanted? Why do we waste our time doing things which... are just the opposite of what we were made for?
errors tree giants
Grains of error planted innocently in a well-kept greenhouse can become giant poisonous trees.
being-single heart being-alone
If we seek paradise outside ourselves, we cannot have paradise in our hearts.
inspirational happiness order
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
spiritual encounters christ
True encounter with Christ liberates something within us, a power we did not know we had, a capacity to grow and change.
pants praying breathe
What I do is live, how I pray is breathe, what I wear is pants.
praise praise-god adore
The great thing, and the only thing, is to adore and praise GOD.
imagination certain should
The imagination should be allowed a certain amount of time to browse around.
visible wholeness
There is in all visible things - a hidden wholeness.
finding-love sanctuary mystery
To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.
revenge pride temptation
But precisely this illusion that everything is "clear" is what is blinding us all. It is a serious temptation, and it is a subtle form of pride and worldly love of power and revenge.
compassion condemn fears hate irrational mania men patient
We have to have a deep, patient compassion for the fears of men and irrational mania of those who hate or condemn us.