Thomas Merton Quotes

Every closed eye is not sleeping, and every open eye is not seeing.

Two kinds of blindness are easily combined so that those who do not see really appear to see what is not.

We thought because we had power, we had wisdom.

They are most deceived that trusteth most in themselves.

Illusion is the dust the devil throws in the eyes of the foolish

We have a never sated appetite for self deception.

The surest way to be deceived is to consider oneself cleverer than others.

The devil is a very big angel, but a very little man.

After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.

The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.

And now, when I have summed up all my store, Thinking (so I myself deceive) So rich a chaplet thence to weave As never yet the King of Glory wore, Alas! I find the serpent old, That, twining in his speckled breast, About the flowers disguised does fold With wreaths of fame and interest.

One is easily fooled by that which one loves.

It is scarcely credible to what degree discernment may be dazzled by the mist of pride, and wisdom infatuated by the intoxication of flattery.

But no one is easier to delude than a parent; they see only what they wish to see.

Nothing is easier than self-deceit.

Only fools imagine they are already awake. How clearly they understand everything! How easily they distinguish this deception from that reality!

It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does. And men take care that they should.

He thinks he believes only what he sees, but he is much better at believing than at seeing.

The greater your powers of self-delusion, the greater will be the apparent efficacy of this untruth.

Unless you see your nature, you shouldn't go around criticizing the goodness of others. There's no advantage in deceiving yourself. Good and bad are distinct. Cause and effect are clear. But fools don't believe and fall straight into a hell of endless darkness without even knowing it. What keeps them from believing is the heaviness of their karma. They're like blind people who don't believe there's such a thing as light. Even if you explain it to them, they still don't believe, because they're blind. How can they possibly distinguish light?

Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.

There is no polite way to suggest to someone that they have devoted their life to a folly.

There are so many things that can take over your life: money, alcohol, drugs - even fashion. People hand you things, and you start to believe life is easy. And it's not like that - you're not supposed to be the person you play in the movies.

If you search for truthfulness, you might as well be blind.

Those who think their intellect will keep them from deception are already deceived.