Self-transcendence

Man does not have to transcend himself in the sense of pulling himself up by his own bootstraps. He has, rather, to respond to the mysterious grace of a Spirit which is at once infinitely greater than his own spirit and yet which, at the same time, offers itself as the total plentitude of all Gifts, to be in all reality his "own Spirit."

Merton. Thomas, Faith and Violence (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press: 1968) 117-118

Thomas Merton on Self-Discipline

In general, it can be said that no contemplative life is possible without ascetic self-discipline. One must learn to survive without the habit-forming luxuries which get such a hold on men today. I do not say that to be a contemplative one absolutely has to go without smoking or without alcohol, but certainly one must be able to use these things without being dominated by an uncontrolled need for them.


Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. (New York: New Directions Books), p 12

Merton on "False Gods"

"For since man has decided to to occupy the place of God he has shown himself to be by far the blindest, and cruelest, and pettiest and most ridiculous of false gods."

- Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable, p. 61

The importance of our thinking

One of the elders said: It is not because evil thoughts come to us that we are condemned, but only because we make use of the evil thoughts. It can happen that from these thoughts we suffer shipwreck, but it can also happen that because of them we may be crowned.

Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert (New York: New Directions, 1960) 45