People settle for a level of despair they can tolerate and call it happiness.No Man is an Island, p. 21, 1955
Author · 9 quotes
Thomas Merton (1915–1968) was a Trappist monk, writer, theologian, and mystic. He is best known for his spiritual writings, including "The Seven Storey Mountain," which chronicles his journey from a worldly life to becoming a monk, and for his advocacy for social justice and interfaith dialogue.
1915–1968·lived 53 years
People settle for a level of despair they can tolerate and call it happiness.No Man is an Island, p. 21, 1955
We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves.
Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.
When ambition ends, happiness begins.The Seven Storey Mountain, p. 190, 1948
Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.No Man Is an Island, p. 78, 1955
The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.No Man Is an Island, p. 85, 1955
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.No Man Is an Island, p. 87, 1955
Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 25, 1961
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.No Man is an Island, p. 127, 1955
That’s all 9 quotes by Thomas Merton.