God [is] hidden within me. I find Him by hiding in the silence in which He is concealed.

—Thomas Merton

About Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968), religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, Catholic priest, theologian, mystic, poet, and writer. He was a professed member of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.

More quotations from Thomas Merton

The silence of the forest is my bride and the sweet dark warmth of the whole world is my love, and out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world.

—Thomas Merton

Teenagers have no monopoly on [adolescent behavior], except insofar as we are in fact a teenage society—a society that likes to play "chicken" not with fast cars, but with ballistic missiles.

—Thomas Merton

Why do monks live in seclusion? That is asking why does a scientist work in a laboratory, or why does a sailor go on a ship or why does a duck swim in water. Why does a man go to his bedroom and get in bed when he wants to go to sleep? Why doesn't he lie down in the middle of the street? A monk seeks silence and solitude because there his mind and heart can relax and expand and attain to a new perspective: there too he can hear the Word of God.… An apt saying of the Muslim Sufis comes to mind here: "The hen does not lay eggs in the marketplace.

—Thomas Merton

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

—Thomas Merton

discovery escape art

It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am, the more affection I have for them. Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.

—Thomas Merton

solitude love silence gentleness brotherhood

History

27 Sep 2016 Added