Henri Nouwen Quotes

There's more to life than physical and material.

I would like to learn, or remember, how to live.

Solitude is the place of purification.

When you walk 10 hours, 11 hours a day by yourself, you are doing a walking meditation.

An authentic life is the most personal form of worship. Everyday life has become my prayer.

The great omission in American life is solitude; not loneliness, for this is an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds, but that zone of time and space, free from the outside pressures, which is the incubator of the spirit.

The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and to look toward Him.

I would say to today's young minister, 'Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation'.

Isolation, but it's a good vulnerability. Humbling. I actually seek out solitude.

...good things happen to the human spirit when it is left alone.

Solitude is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it.

Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.

Solitude is the place of purification and transformation, the place of the great struggle and the great encounter.

Aloneness is a wise teacher. Kierkegaard remarked that one sign of spiritual maturity was the ability to be comfortable when alone.

The true solitary ... will feel that he is himself only when he is alone; when he is in company he will feel that he perjures himself, prostitutes himself to the exactions of others; he will feel that time spent in company is time lost; he will be conscious only of his impatience to get back to his true life.

Be aware that who you are and what you have to offer can be a beacon to some lost soul.

Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life.

Mankind have such a deep stake in inward illumination, that there is much to be said by the hermit or monk in defence of his life of thought and prayer.

We who live in quiet places have the opportunity to become acquainted with ourselves, to think our own thoughts and live our own lives in a way that is not possible for those keeping up with the crowd.

I am ready to be alone.

Stop looking all over the place for "the answers" - whatever they are - and start looking for the questions - the inquiries which are most important in your life, and give them answers. You do not live each day to discover what it holds for you, but to create it.

Turning 30 was really big for me. I can get really stuck on 'I don't like this or that about myself.' I've found that the only thing that breaks that for me is being able to spend time alone, going to the movies by myself or going to art museums alone. I do that a lot. I've discovered the importance of even 15 or 30 minutes a day where it is just me.

There is a Soul within the Soul. Seek it out. There is a Treasure in your mountain. Seek it Out. A mystic in motion, if that's what you are, don't seek out there; seek inside.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone.