"BrickWords
Quotes
Discover quotes across various topics for every mood and occasion.
Explore Authors
Discover Authors Through a Multitude of Pathways

We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen.

Quote Summary
This quote by Thomas Merton reflects on the inherent human nature to make mistakes and face obstacles even in times of spiritual awakening. It highlights that in moments of profound spiritual darkness, we often lack awareness of our own failures and limitations.
Quote by Thomas Merton
Author, American
Thomas Merton was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion.
Share Quote
More Quotes from Thomas Merton

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another. Read Summary

When ambition ends, happiness begins. Read Summary

What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous. Read Summary

In the last analysis, the individual person is responsible for living his own life and for 'finding himself.' If he persists in shifting his responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence. Read Summary

Yet it is in this loneliness that the deepest activities begin. It is here that you discover act without motion, labor that is profound repose, vision in obscurity, and, beyond all desire, a fulfillment whose limits extend to infinity. Read Summary

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. Read Summary

The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little. Read Summary

If you want to study the social and political history of modern nations, study hell. Read Summary

The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error. Read Summary

We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen. Read Summary