Thomas Merton Quotes

Keeping a journal has taught me that there is not so much new in your life as you sometimes think. When you re-read your journal you find out that your latest discovery is something you already found out five years ago. Still, it is true that one penetrates deeper and deeper into the same ideas and the same experiences.

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

I often sit back and think, I wish I'd done that, and find out later that I already have.

You learn a lot about yourself just by writing it down.

I found after seventy years that I was not a lunatic but a moron.... I should have been able to do better.

I thought of the things that had happened to me over the years, and of how little I had made happen.

We read books to find out who we are.

You may think me crude, and probably I am crude, but I am not so crude as I was, for I am clever enough to see that the girl of nineteen who thought herself a genius was only an unusual girl writing her heart out.

'What am I missing?' is a much more important question than 'How cool am I?'

When the traveler goes alone he gets acquainted with himself.

To travel is to take a journey into yourself.

If you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book.

I write to make sense of things that don't make sense to me.

I'm always writing at night - things I would change, things I would do differently. When I write a note, it sticks in my head differently.

I was 20 years old and felt I had a lot to offer, even to myself.

When I go back and read my journals or fiction, I am always surprised. I may not remember having those thoughts, but they still exist and I know they are mine, and it's all part of making sense of who I am.

Writing is a really good first step toward that goal of knowing yourself.

Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'

Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself.

If you asked me for my New Year Resolution, it would be to find out who I am.

I feel like I've grown up a bit. I'm a bit more confident, and I've been reading more, and I've had a little more time to myself. I went on this writing trip to gather my thoughts about where and who I am in this world, and why we're all here.

Maybe one day I can have a reunion with myself.

I realized that I had to be honest about where I was, where I was coming from, and what I was trying to do.

I always write to understand my place in the world. I can see myself and my life unfold on the page, and I can understand my strengths, my weaknesses - I can see where I need to step up a bit.

The more I talk about things, the more I understand myself.