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Thomas Merton

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Thomas Merton


Born
in Prades, France
January 31, 1915

Died
December 10, 1968

Genre
Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy

Influences
Gerard Manley Hopkins


Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20th century. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in the American state of Kentucky, Merton was an acclaimed Catholic spiritual writer, poet, author and social activist. Merton wrote over 60 books, scores of essays and reviews, and is the ongoing subject of many biographies. Merton was also a proponent of inter-religious dialogue, engaging in spiritual dialogues with the Dalai Lama XIV, Thich Nhat Hanh, D. T. Suzuki and poet Robert Lax. His life and career were suddenly cut short at age 53, when he was electrocuted stepping out of his bath. ...more

Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.14 · 67,659 ratings · 5,085 reviews · 667 distinct works • Similar authors
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New Seeds of Contemplation
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No Man Is an Island
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Contemplative Prayer
4.10 avg rating — 3,980 ratings — published 1969 — 31 editions
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Thoughts in Solitude
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The Wisdom of the Desert: S...
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Zen and the Birds of Appeti...
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Conjectures of a Guilty Bys...
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The Sign of Jonas
4.26 avg rating — 667 ratings — published 1953 — 41 editions
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A Book of Hours
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More books by Thomas Merton…

Series by Thomas Merton

Run to the Mountain: The St... Entering the Silence: Becom... A Search for Solitude: Purs... Turning Toward the World: T... Dancing in the Water of Life Learning to Love: The Journ... The Other Side of the Mount...
(7 books)
by
4.43 avg rating — 928 ratings

Quotes by Thomas Merton  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”
― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
tags: friendship, love, self-discovery, trust, truth
4045 likes
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“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
― Thomas Merton , No Man Is an Island
tags: art
3376 likes
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“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image.”
― Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu
3120 likes
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