I recently started reading Thomas Merton’s Contemplation in a World of Action and it has led me to track down some of his quotes and insights. Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk and mystic. For a brief period he was a Communist. He is largely remembered for his work as a civil rights activist, poet, writer and student of comparative religion.
- To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that Love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name – From Seeds of Contemplation
- We are not meant to resolve all contradictions but to live with them and rise above them and see them in the light of exterior and objective values which make them trivial by comparison – From Thoughts in Solitude
- The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image – From The Way of Chuang Tzu
- Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul – Thomas Merton
As always, nice chatting…
