Quotes

“I cannot make the universe obey me. I cannot make other people conform to my own whims and fancies. I cannot make even my own body obey me.” Thomas Merton

“Just remaining quietly in the presence of God, listening to Him, being attentive to Him, requires a lot of courage and know-how.” Thomas Merton

“The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God's mercy to me.” Thomas Merton

“The tighter you squeeze, the less you have.” Thomas Merton

“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” Thomas Merton

“The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.” Thomas Merton

“The least of the work of learning is done in the classroom.” Thomas Merton

“We do not exist for ourselves.” Thomas Merton

“Advertising treats all products with the reverence and the seriousness due to sacraments.” Thomas Merton

“Wheels of fire, cosmic, rich, full-bodied honest victories over desperation.” Thomas Merton

“A daydream is an evasion.” Thomas Merton

“Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.” Thomas Merton

“October is a fine and dangerous season in America. a wonderful time to begin anything at all. You go to college, and every course in the catalogue looks wonderful.” Thomas Merton

“Death is someone you see very clearly with eyes in the center of your heart: eyes that see not by reacting to light, but by reacting to a kind of a chill from within the marrow of your own life.” Thomas Merton

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” Alan Alexander Milne

“What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” Alan Alexander Milne

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” Alan Alexander Milne

“To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.” Alan Alexander Milne

“You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” Alan Alexander Milne

“My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.” Alan Alexander Milne

“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.” Alan Alexander Milne

“If one is to be called a liar, one may as well make an effort to deserve the name.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Never forget me, because if I thought you would, I'd never leave.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Tiggers don't like honey.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Golf is so popular simply because it is the best game in the world at which to be bad.” Alan Alexander Milne

“Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.” Alan Alexander Milne