Thomas Merton Quotes

We miss a lot in life because we don't know when to quit, what to leave out.

To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in knowledge of simplicity.

Here's a vice: I say yes to too many things. I wish I had the guilty pleasure of saying no. My goal is to try to do less, but more fully.

We shall have to practise to lead our life on the basis of our needs, not under the influence of our greed.

Concentrate: you can't have it all.

We all think that the answer to everything is to add more and to do more and to try more. Sometimes you have to have the discipline to say no and to believe in the process that you have established.

What makes Steve [Jobs'] methodology different from everyone else's is that he always believed the most important decisions you make are not the things you do, but the things you decide not to do. He's a minimalist.

Before buying anything, it is well to ask if one could do without it.

I think I've realized that when you are aiming to create a real body of work, you are as much defined by the things you don't do as by the things you do.

Less is more.

Fortunate indeed, is the man who takes exactly the right measure of himself, and holds a just balance between what he can acquire and what he can use.

Whatever you want too much you can't have, so when you really want something, try to want it a little less.

It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back.

If you ask me about my success story, the secret is I know when to pull myself back. I don't overexpose myself; I give proper gaps whenever I can. I do not over spend myself, I keep myself busy in lot of activities. I really work hard; I work harder than others, by focussing on my fitness level and studying music.

Anytime something eats too much of my life, I kill it.

One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.

Always do one thing less than you think you can do.

You can't have too much of everything, you must have a balance, that's very important.

I think I am disciplined when I need to be, and relax when I can.

Less is only more where more is no good.

You CAN have it all. You just can't have it all at once.

You have to stay very basic. You have to stay very focused. You have to stay very disciplined.

Most people in business and within their personal lives move towards complexity. More To Dos. More projects. More products. More meetings. More possessions. More goals. The best - I suggest to you - move in the opposite direction.

I'm often guilty of overcooking and too much arrangement and throwing too much at it. But I think as I get older, I'm learning better when to be empty and when to be full.

You can't let the game become too big.