Quote

One of the main tasks of theology is to find words that do not divide but unite, that do not create conflict but unity, that do not hurt but heal.

Henri Nouwen

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Henri Nouwen
Age: 64 †
Born: 1932
Born: January 24
Died: 1996
Died: September 21
Catholic Priest
Presbyter
Priest
Psychologist
Theologian
University Teacher
Writer
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen
Tasks
Conflict
Unite
Create
Divide
Hurt
Divides
Words
Theology
Find
Heal
Unity
Main

More quotes by Henri Nouwen

Image
I was forced to enter the basement of my soul and look directly at what was hidden there, and to choose, in the face of it all, not death but life.
Henri Nouwen
Image
A happy life is a life for others.
Henri Nouwen
Image
There is nothing so important in the family as the sacred quality of the meal.
Henri Nouwen
Image
When we have nothing to cling to as our own and cease thinking of ourselves as people who must defend privileges, we can open ourselves freely to others with the faithful expectation that our strength will manifest itself in our shared weakness.
Henri Nouwen
Image
I've had a tremendous problem with depression in my life. I'd rather not talk about it, because it's over. But depression is real.
Henri Nouwen
Image
A life without a lonely place, that is, without a quiet center, becomes destructive.
Henri Nouwen
Image
The beginning and the end of all Christian leadership is to give your life for others.
Henri Nouwen
Image
Becoming the beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what I am, in fact, thinking of, talking about and doing from hour to hour.
Henri Nouwen
Image
We have to trust that our stories deserve to be told. We may discover that the better we tell our stories the better we will want to live them.
Henri Nouwen
Image
A few years ago I met an old professor at the University of Notre Dame. Looking back on his long life of teaching, he said with a funny wrinkle in his eyes: I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I slowly discovered that my interruptions were my work.
Henri Nouwen
Image
If I were to let my life be taken over by what is urgent, I might very well never get around to what is essential.
Henri Nouwen
Image
It is precisely when you are loved a lot that you might realize a second loneliness which is not to be solved but lived. This second loneliness is an existential loneliness that belongs to the basis of our being. It's where we are unfulfilled because only God can fill us.
Henri Nouwen
Image
While optimism makes us live as if someday soon things will soon go better for us, hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, with the deep trust that God will never leave us alone but will fulfill the deepest desires of our heart... Joy in this perspective is the fruit of hope.
Henri Nouwen
Image
It is to this silence [contemplative prayer] that we all are called.
Henri Nouwen
Image
The evangelical movement has become just a bit victimized by a success-oriented culture, wanting the church - like the corporation - to be successful.
Henri Nouwen
Image
Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint.
Henri Nouwen
Image
When we keep claiming the light, we will find ourselves becoming more and more radiant.
Henri Nouwen
Image
The best of community does give one a deep sense of belonging and well-being and in that sense community takes away loneliness.
Henri Nouwen
Image
When suddenly you seem to lose all you thought you had gained, do not despair. You must expect setbacks and regressions. Don't say to yourself All is lost. I have to start all over again. This is not true. What you have gained you have gained....When you return to the the road, you return to the place where you left it, not to where you starte
Henri Nouwen
Image
Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know I am moving from fear to love.
Henri Nouwen