Thomas Merton Quotes

I needed to be in the bush. There I find solitude and beauty and purity and focus. That's where my heart lies.

I grew up in a wood cabin on Puget Sound in Manchester, Wash. My family taught me to appreciate the arts and the outdoors, and I still yearn for the absolute silence I experienced there when I was young.

I like nothing more than walking down a country lane or along a mountain path - it's not proof that there is anything bigger than ourselves, but I feel very much at peace.

While growing up, I used to go to the beach, as I used to find peace there.

I love being in the woods, when I can just walk barefoot in the grass and just sit down and breathe. I love that so much.

No matter what happens, I can go back to the mountains. I have nature and my wonderful friends and neighbors. I get so much by being there.

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I long for scenes where man has never trod; A place where woman never smil'd or wept; There to abide with my creator, God, And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept: Untroubling and untroubled where I lie; The grass below--above the vaulted sky.

There is nothing like being left alone again, to walk peacefully with oneself in the woods. To boil one's coffee and fill one's pipe, and to think idly and slowly as one does it.

The desert is natural; when you are out there, you can get in tune with your environment, something you lose when you live in the city.

On all the peaks lies peace.

It's fantastic to put your hands in the earth. I enjoy spending my time in heaven here. I don't care what you say, this is my heaven.

Sense the blessings of the earth in the perfect arc of a ripe tangerine, the taste of warm, fresh bread, the circling flight of birds, the lavender color of the sky shining in a late afternoon rain puddle, the million times we pass other beings in our cars and shops and out among the trees without crashing, conflict, or harm.

Oh, to be home again, home again, home again! Under the apple-boughs, down by the mill!

I like to be grounded by nature, go hiking... go to an isolated island that's not glamorous and touristy at all.

Travelers repose and dream among my leaves.

At home, I love reaching out into that absolute silence, when you can hear the owl or the wind.

But I try to steal other moments. Sometimes I get up very early in the morning and enjoy a quiet house and cup of tea before the craziness begins. Other times, I'll take a quick walk on the beach. You can find peace in a few minutes.

I go to the ocean to calm down, to reconnect with the creator, to just be happy.

There's something about the water - that solitary kind of peaceful feeling. You're on Earth but not quite.

There's nothing like the peace of the countryside, the quiet and the lack of distraction. It helps you to focus your mind.

It was night and I could see a large and calm lake, reflecting the moon. Black mountains rose around it. I arrived from between two of these mountains, I looked at the lake and the moon, and that was it, nothing else happened.

Cross the meadow and the stream and listen as the peaceful water brings peace upon your soul.

In my solitude, many miles from men and houses, I am in a childishly happy and carefree state of mind, which you are incapable of understanding unless someone explains it to you.