QUOTATION: Emptying of Self

One of the greatest paradoxes of the mystical life is this: that a man cannot enter into the deepest center of himself and pass through that center into God unless he is able to pass entirely out of himself and empty himself and give himself to other people in the purity of selfless love.

--Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation

QUOTATION: Humility

When a proud man thinks he is humble his case is hopeless.

--Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation

QUOTATION: Faith

Ultimately faith is the only key to the universe. The final meaning of human existence, and the answers to the questions on which all our happiness depends cannot be found in any other way.

--Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation