Thomas Merton

"We are not called to be judges of the social order, only to love others."

"Prayer is the opening of a vein to the very heart of God."

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

"Man cannot live by statistics alone."

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction."

"In an age of technology, man has forgotten how to contemplate."

"The greatest need of our time is not success or power, but authentic presence with one another."

"God uses our weakness to show His strength."

"To love God in the friendless and the lonely is to truly know Him."

"The function of the poet is to make people aware of what they know and do not know they know."

"Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy."

"There are times when we are powerless to help, but there is no time when we are powerless to love."

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor; it prevents us from being wholly alive."

"Every temptation is an opportunity to grow stronger in faith."

"A tree with strong roots laughs at storms."

"The contemplative life is not a luxury for an elite few, but a necessity for us all."

"We cannot know ourselves truly unless we know how we appear to God."

"True freedom consists in the ability to choose what is truly good."

"The greatest gift we can give another is our undivided attention."

"In silence, we hear what our hearts are really saying."

"The Christian revolution is not political but spiritual."

"Hope is the greatest healer of the human heart."

"We must learn to see the world with the eyes of compassion."

"Truth cannot be imprisoned or controlled."

"The work of love is always a work of self-denial."

"A man who has renounced the desire for esteem is truly free."

"To know God is to love Him; to love Him is to obey Him."

"Our deepest fear is not of death, but of meaninglessness."

"Grace is God's love that comes to us freely, without merit on our part."

"The wound is the place where the Light enters you."