We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves properly and thus also love others.
Thomas Merton
Related I am convinced we do not only love ourselves in others but hate ourselves in others too. G. C. (GEORG CHRISTOPH) LICHTENBERG Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968 This matter of "salvation" is, whe... THOMAS MERTON The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbors as ourselves: we do unto others as we do u... ERIC HOFFER The remarkable thing is that we really love our neighbor as ourselves: we do unto others as we do un... ERIC HOFFER When we cannot bear to be alone, it means we do not properly value the only companion we will have f... EDA J. LESHAN When we cannot bear to be alone, it means we do not properly value the only companion we will have f... EDA J. LE SHAN People can only give us what they are capable of at that moment and that may not be enough for you- ... DR.'S RICK AND SUSANN CRAWFORD A deep love resides inside each of us. This love is independent of the desires, thoughts, and opinio... MARLON HARTLEY LINDSAY Love is the only mirror we must use to judge ourselves and others. BODIE THOENE Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not ou... THOMAS MERTON We are responsible for ourselves and each other. RODEL NATIVIDAD CASIO When we have ceased to love the stench of the human animal, either in others or in ourselves, then a... CYRIL CONNOLLY There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. Wh... JOHN LENNON The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not t... THOMAS MERTON Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with an... THOMAS MERTON Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone-we find it with anot... THOMAS MERTON We are existing in this space not for ourselves alone,but to gladly meet the needs of others. DAVID ATTA (A.K.A DAVIED ATTLARS & MR DAIN) We dance to seduce ourselves. To fall in love with ourselves. When we dance with another, we manifes... KAMAND KOJOURI If we do not know how to take care of ourselves and to love ourselves, we cannot take care of the pe... THICH NHAT HANH We do not exist for ourselves... THOMAS MERTON When we are treated well, we naturally begin to think that we are not altogether unmeritous, and tha... GEORGE ELIOT The words you can’t find, you borrow. We read to know we’re not alone. We read because w... GABRIELLE ZEVIN It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may. We are never able to know ourselves ful... MOHANDAS GANDHI It is lack of love for ourselves that inhibits our compassion toward others. If we make friends with... DALAI LAMA We are so accustomed to the comforts of "I cannot", "I do not want to" and "it is too difficult" tha... PANDORA POIKILOS We are a product of love, so why stop loving ourselves and others. VISHWAS CHAVAN That is why not only we should ourselves engage in good deeds but also encourage others to do the sa... SAM VEDA ...we need to fall, and we need to be aware of it; for if we did not fall, we should not know how we... JULIAN OF NORWICH When we see the relatedness of ourselves to the universe, that we do not live as isolated entities, ... SHARON SALZBERG Religious people today are courts and juries. When it comes down to it, Jesus died on the cross so t... TAMMY FAYE BAKKER When we think little of ourselves, we do little with ourselves. We must think bigger of ourselves to... BRANDON A. TREAN God is love. God wants us to accept and love ourselves for who we are. Not to feel in fear of who we... AVIS J. WILLIAMS She is sugar, curiosity, and rain. E. LOCKHART Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. HENRY DAVID THOREAU Live it simple, make it simple, and say it simple, the obvious key for happiness which life is all a... NORAIN We love in others what we lack in ourselves, and would be everything, but what we are. RICHARD HENRY STODDARD Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are n... HARRY CHAPIN Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968 Every other creature in nature is si... PAUL TOURNIER You certainly believe in the power of love. And throughout the series, you see how love shows itself... MOUTASEM ALGHARATI The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves. We live in denial of what we do, even what we think. ... RICHARD BACH When we deny the EVIL within ourselves, we dehumanize ourselves, and we deprive ourselves not only o... J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER Isn't unconditional love supposed to work both ways? How can we expect unconditional love for oursel... CHRISTINA ENGELA We must reject not only the stereotypes that others have of us but also those that we have of oursel... SHIRLEY CHISHOLM Why is love beyond all measure of other human possibilities so rich and such a sweet burden for the ... MARTIN HEIDEGGER Much as we complain about our condition or feel victimized by fortune or fellow humans, we simply lo... JOHN LACHS We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it i... THICH NHAT HANH We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it i... NHAT HANH We are obliged to love one another. We are not strictly bound to 'like' one another. Love governs th... THOMAS MERTON You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done ... VICTOR HUGO Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968 Our knowledge of God is paradoxica... THOMAS MERTON Our competitive nature as humans means that we have a tendency to compare ourselves to others. You m... DR ANIL KUMAR SINHA We all have thorns in our flesh. All of us. Love is when we stay and help someone pluck out their th... C. JOYBELL C. Food is the most basic forum for discussing things like love and the absence of love; how we hurt ou... LAURA BENANTI The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. We cannot for... WILLIAM HAZLITT We are not born for ourselves alone. UNKNOWN When we are in love, we are convinced nobody else will do. But as time goes, others do do, and often... COCO J. GINGER We achieve inner health only through forgiveness - the forgiveness not only of others but also of ou... JOSHUA LOTH LIEBMAN When we can be loving and truthful with ourselves...we can then be fully loving and truthful with ot... G. BRIAN BENSON In this universe, and this existence, where we live with this duality of whether we exist or not and... SHEKHAR KAPUR Aliens have been here for millennium. But they didn't come in spaceships. They came in orange s... ANTHONY T. HINCKS When we come together to play and be we are truly ourselves When we are truly ourselves it is wonder... BRAD COLBY We truly can reconfigure how we see ourselves and reclaim the love for ourselves that we’re innate... SHARON SALZBERG [...]we must ask ourselves whether we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of... DIETRICH BONHOEFFER I am aware that everyone that exists has a story, and we all exist because that story is important f... ARZELL Dae FATE NAYAE Nanagha Vandhuttoom Da, Sandy , Na Nata, London Lass,Russian Grapes, Ellorum Ippa Van... SATHESH KUMAR M When we struggle to change ourselves we, in fact, only continue the patterns of self-judgement and a... JACK KORNFIELD I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Ask ... MOTHER TERESA We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known,... BRENé BROWN Convinced that we're living the whole time that we're dying. We decide to go out walking the wh... TEGAN QUIN When we are in constant pain, we cannot empathize with others, nor can we help them. It is only when... VIRONIKA TUGALEVA Our forgiving of others will not procure forgiveness for ourselves; but our not forgiving others pro... JOHN OWEN We find it hard to apply the knowledge of ourselves to our judgment of others. The fact that we are ... ERIC HOFFER May it not be the supreme aim of life thus to bring to birth the inexplicable within ourselves; and ... MAURICE MAETERLINCK We live life not only for ourselves but for others. LAILAH GIFTY AKITA That perfect devoting ourselves to God, from which devotion has its name, requires that we should no... FRANÇOIS FÉNÈLON Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappoint... BRENE BROWN The way we can allow ourselves to do what we need to, no matter what others may say or do, is to cho... MARTHA BECK Our stresses, anxieties, pains, and problems arise because we do not see the world, others, or even ... PREM PRAKASH The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit ... THOMAS MERTON To begin to know ourselves we must have sincere conversations with ourselves as if with a good frien... KAMAND KOJOURI If we truly love ourselves, in spite of our flaws, then we can love others in spite of theirs. STEPHEN RICHARDS It strikes me that this may be one of the differences between youth and age: when we are young, we i... JULIAN BARNES The injunction that we should love our neighbors as ourselves means to us equally that we should lov... BARBARA DEMING When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but... DALAI LAMA XIV Tis within ourselves that we are thus or thus WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE We cannot remember too often that when we observe nature, and especially the ordering of nature, it ... G. C. (GEORG CHRISTOPH) LICHTENBERG When we pity ourselves all we see is ourselves. When we have problems, all we see are our problems a... ANN MARIE AGUILAR The theme for me is love and the lack of it. We all want that and we don't know how to get it, and e... RYAN GOSLING Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves only by Jesus Christ. We know l... BLAISE PASCAL We are wont to condemn self-love; but what we really mean to condemn is contrary to self-love. It is... PAUL VALERY Love and relationships are truly one of the most paradoxical aspects of being human. For it is in lo... ANONYMOUS We don't lie to protect the other person. We lie to protect ourselves from the consequences. We lie ... ELISA MARIE HOPKINS When we are looking for the unexpected, we are not only looking for the unexpected in ourselves, but... ERIK PEVERNAGIE Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to... DIETRICH BONHOEFFER Because we were treated neglectfully and abusively in our young years—when we most needed self-lov... MAUREEN BRADY I know the thought of confronting your past terrifies you.It terrifies every man. But sometimes we d... COLLEEN HOOVER To others we are not ourselves but a performer in their lives cast for a part we do not even know th... ELIZABETH BIBESCO When you tell me your story or about yourself I understand who you are and are able to share who I a... BRENT M. JONES I find that when we really love and accept and approve of ourselves exactly as we are, then everythi... LOUISE L. HAY Our self-abnegation is thus not for our own sake, but for the sake of others. And thus it is not to ... BENJAMIN BRECKINRIDGE WARFIELD
More Thomas Merton
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THOMAS MERTON Everyone of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self..We are not very good at recognizing ... THOMAS MERTON We thank Him less by words than by the serene happiness of silent acceptance. It is our emptiness in... THOMAS MERTON The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant thi... THOMAS MERTON The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not t... THOMAS MERTON Please do not look only at the dark side All the newspapers in the free world explain why... THOMAS MERTON The story of the Fall tells us in mythical language that "original sin" is not simply a stigma arbit... THOMAS MERTON Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more. THOMAS MERTON The selfishness of an age that has devoted itself to the mere cult of pleasure has tainted the whole... THOMAS MERTON If we live with possibilities we are exiles from the present which is given us by God to be our own,... THOMAS MERTON The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on th... THOMAS MERTON When you expect the world to end at any moment, you know there is no need to hurry. You take your ti... THOMAS MERTON I read every book about Buster Keaton and Chaplin to see how they worked - it's all about dedica... PAUL MERTON There's something magical about film, it's the ultimate for me, because it's kind of per... PAUL MERTON So everybody has some information. The function of the markets is to aggregate that information, eva... MERTON MILLER Everyone recognizes that's a joke because obviously the number and shape of the pieces doesn'... MERTON MILLER I'm always amazed to hear of air crash victims so badly mutilated that they have to be identifie... PAUL MERTON My school days were the happiest days of my life; which should give you some indication of the miser... PAUL MERTON As an economics undergraduate, I also worked on a part-time basis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a... MERTON MILLER You only need to make one big score in finance to be a hero forever. MERTON MILLER I was trying to organise my DVDs into a sort of chronological order, and I am afraid that it all tra... PAUL MERTON When I wake up on a Monday morning and I realise I don't have to go and work at the civil servic... PAUL MERTON If you became a comedian in the '80s, you had to work the circuit and make people laugh. Canned ... PAUL MERTON When I turned about 12 or 13, I realised that being funny wasn't about remembering jokes. It was... PAUL MERTON All disc jockeys are without talent. Noel Edmonds - I can't stand Noel Edmonds. PAUL MERTON Most people might just as well buy a share of the whole market, which pools all the information, tha... MERTON MILLER When I used to do the Edinburgh Festival, there was a bunch of guys selling fresh oysters and I'... PAUL MERTON My research interests since then have shifted strongly towards the economic and regulatory problems ... MERTON MILLER The thing about improvisation is that it's not about what you say. It's listening to what ot... PAUL MERTON When things are difficult, awful, stressful, the thing that always gets you through is a sense of hu... PAUL MERTON Beginning with a trip out to Ellis Island, I saw for myself where thousands of European immigrants t... PAUL MERTON We thought it would have significance for practice but nothing of the magnitude that's occurred over... ROBERT MERTON