Henri Nouwen Quotes

We are all on a journey of faith, and we have to polish that faith.

I think one thing is that prayer has become more useful, interesting, fruitful, and... almost involuntary in my life.

The key is - I'll say the key - number one, I pray every day.

As we regularly spend time reading God's Word and talking to Him in prayer, we put ourselves in position for Him to do things in our lives we could never do on our own.

I pray every morning and night before bed.

I prayed every day of my life, and that was instilled in me as a kid, and as I've gotten older, that's just matured in me.

A vague religion—all about feeling God in nature, and so on—is so attractive. It is all thrills and no work; like watching the waves from the beach. But you will not get to Newfoundland by studying the Atlantic, and you will not get eternal life by simply feeling the presence of God in Flowers or music.

Here's the thing: The book that will most change your life is the book you write.

When prayer fades out, power fades out. We are as spiritual as we are prayerful; no more, no less.

Like to write? Of course, of course I do. I seem to live while I write - it is life, for me.

You have to surrender to your mediocrity, and just write. Because it's hard, really hard, to write even a crappy book. But it's better to write a book that kind of sucks rather than no book at all, as you wait around to magically become Faulkner. No one is going to write your book for you and you can't write anybody's book but your own.

The more we can give in our silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.

To pray well is the better half of study.

I should have written books instead of reading them.

I never imagined I'd write a book.

You must find your own quiet center of life, and write from that to the world.

As my kid gets a little bit older, if I feel like I have a little bit more time on my hands, I'd like to get more into developing ideas and writing things.

Writing for me is a form of spiritual discipline and creative vision, a means of being in the world and giving one's love to it without compromise or dilution.

One of the goals of a spiritual practice is self-awareness, and one of the best tools of self-awareness is simple emotional vulnerability.

In school, writing was the only thing that really came naturally to me, but it wasn't until college that I realized that I could do it for more than just fun.

I loved and still love watching words flower into sentences and sentences blossom into stories.

I do write, but for now I am keeping it all in the desk drawer. I have always written. The only book that I have published was "Revolution," during the election campaign, a book that contains both personal and political chapters. I have never been happy with what I have written, including three novels that, from my point of view, are incomplete.

Life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting - an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified.

I'm writing. The pages are starting to stack up. My morale is improving the more I feel like a writer.

We stayed at home to write, to consolidate our outstretched selves.