Quotes About Contemplation

A man's silence is wonderful to listen to.

Leisure is the mother of Philosophy

Only in formal meditation can there be the real beginning of understanding.

Words can point the way, but the path must be traveled in silence.

envisioned them in rocking chairs forty years down

Lost in his own horrific contemplations... When at the bed's foot, close beside the post, He verily believed he saw—a Ghost!... From every pore distill'd a clammy dew, Quaked every limbe—the candle, too... The room was fill'd with a sulphureous smell, But where that came from Mason could not tell.

...rousing himself from a reverie, which had degenerated into an absolute snooze.

All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.

All the problems of the world could be settled if people were only willing to think. The trouble is that people very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blindfolded fear.

One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.

Contemplative prayer is a deepening of faith that moves beyond thoughts and concepts. One just listens to God, open and receptive to the divine presence in one's inmost being as its source. One listens not with a view to hearing something, but with a view to becoming aware of the obstacles to one's friendship with God.

If you want to be free, he suggests, if you want to heal your relationship with God, with others and yourself, enter your inner room—the office, where the Divine Therapy takes place. Close the door so you don't run away. Quiet your interior dialogue so that you can listen to what the Spirit is saying to you.

Where are you?" God's question to us never changes. In some cases, life has been so tragic that we are not free to decide where we are. But the power of divine grace, especially as it is experienced in contemplative prayer, opens us to the unconscious and introduces us to a world of unlimited possibilities that are unknown to us now.

Let Love Alone speak

We share in centering prayer when done in common a reservoir of silence that is enhanced by each one's contribution.

As St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) taught, whatever we say about God is more unlike God than saying nothing. If we do say something, it can only be a pointer toward the Mystery that can never be articulated in words. All that words can do is point in the direction of the Mystery.

In the world that lies ahead, religious pluralism is going to penetrate all cultures. How we live together with different points of view is going to become more and more important. I don't know whether we can make progress in such a project without a contemplative practice that alerts us to our own biases, prejudices, and self-centered programs for happiness, especially when they trample on other people's rights and needs.

Gregory the Great (sixth century), summarizing the Christian contemplative tradition, expressed it as "resting in God." This was the classical meaning of Contemplative Prayer in the Christian tradition for the first sixteen centuries.

The less I speak, the more I meditate.

If we must think, it should be done only in circles, outside of which lies the unthinkable.

Only catatonics and coma patients can persevere in a dignified withdrawal from life's rattle and hum.

There are enough fatalities of a mundane sort. Find a quiet place and wait for one of them to carry you off.

For much of that day I had been secluded in my room, intently pursuing a typical activity of my early life and in the process badly ravaging what previously had been a well-made bed.