Henri Nouwen Quotes

A certain giving up of control is good for the soul.

Truth is, it's a relief to finally put my life in the hands of someone I trust.

You're always trying to feel confident and to feel good about yourself, but what it comes down to is really giving up to someone else. Having faith.

You know that if you get in the water and have nothing to hold on to, but try to behave as you would on dry land, you will drown. But if, on the other hand, you trust yourself to the water and let go, you will float. And this is exactly the situation of faith.

I think staying grounded is one of the hardest things we'll ever do in our lives. It's always back and forth. To be able to stay grounded, we need to live with open hands that everything that we have has been given to us by the creator of this universe. He can take it, and he can give it back to us. He can take some things, and he can give us new things. When a door closes, a new one is going to open.

I can't see how You're leading me unless you've led me here, where I'm lost enough to let myself be led.

Open your hands if you want to be held.

Where we start to lose it is when we start to grasp onto what we think is ours. No, this is mine. No, that's my career. That's my money. That's my platform. But really, no, it's yours, God. It's not mine. You might lend it to me for a little while. You might let me hold onto it. You might let me use it for a little bit, but that's not mine; it's yours. Thank you for letting me use that for a little while. I think that's what staying grounded means.

Surrender is a gift that you can give yourself. It's an act of faith. It's saying that even though I can't see where this river is flowing, I trust it will take me in the right direction.

I don't chase after things, but I put forward the effort and know the rest of it is out of my hands.

God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.

It often takes more courage to be a passenger than a driver.

Don't try to live. Let yourself be lived.

Let go and let God. Let Him take over your life and run it. He knows how.

I let go of my need to control and allow the Universe to do her thing.

Stop trying, stop struggling; begin to be calm, to trust in the higher laws of life, even though you do not see them; they are still there.

Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.

We must trust God with what we can't control.

The more you try to grip control of your life the more God's gonna untangle that from you. He's going to make things go where you have to rely on Him.

I tend to detach myself from movies once I'm done shooting them, because after that, it's in the hands of God. And it doesn't help if I panic.

I've always just written my heart and allowed God to do what he wanted to do.

All I can control is how hard I play and put the rest in God's hands.

We must stop planning, plotting and scheming, and let Infinite Intelligence solve the problem in its own way.