"Solitude, community, and ministry are certainly not just for celibates! Celibates also have a hard time keeping up."
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Quote collection
Henri Nouwen quotes (page 25 of 25)
497 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Writing is not just a job. It helps me to pray. It's a way of being."
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"I still believe that the university is a place where people can develop their minds and learn skills, but also they can develop their personalities and their spiritual life."
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"The resistance to praying is like the resistance of tightly clenched fists. This image shows a tension, a desire to cling tightly to yourself, a greediness which betrays fear."
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"I am working on three things: on being a prayerful person; on staying close to the handicapped; and on my writing. These are my constant concerns."
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"There are areas I have to work on. I had some questions and some struggles, but it was an enormously important time for me."
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"I wrote to my bishop, the Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland, and explained that I wanted not just permission to stay longer, but a mission. He met me at the Trosly L'Arche community and we spent a few days together . . . I wanted him to get to know L'Arche, to understand what I was doing there. Afterward he said, "I understand now, Henri. You have found a home for your self.""
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"The great challenge is to discover that we are truly invited to participate in the divine life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
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"No one person can fulfill all your needs. But the community can truly hold you. The community can let you experience the fact that, beyond your anguish, there are human hands that hold you and show you God's faithful love."
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"Community life is not easy for somebody like me, who is used to living by himself and doing what he wants. It's a demanding life, and you quickly get in touch with your own handicaps and weaknesses."
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"Peacemaking is a full-time vocation that includes each member of God's people."
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"Often we come home from a sharing session with a feeling that something precious has been taken away from us or that holy ground has been trodden upon."
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"People who read your ideas tend to think that your writings reflect your life."
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"Beneath our frantic activities, there's a deep desire to show the world we are worthwhile."
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"The mystery of one man is too immense and too profound to be explained by another man."
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"Living in a community with very wounded people, I came to see that I had lived most of my life as a tightrope artist trying to walk on a high, thin cable from one tower to the other, always waiting for the applause when I had not fallen off and broken my leg."
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"By giving words to these intimate experiences I can make my life available to others."
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