Quotes about Contemplation

The true contemplative is one who has discovered the art of finding leisure even in the midst of his work, by working with such a spirit of detachment and recollection that even his work is a prayer

Information work is thinking work.

I want my work to create space where people can meet God, rather than give them something they can "apply" to their daily life.

He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate.

Thinking is the hardest work we do.

All intellectual improvement arises from leisure.

must look at you with the eyes of David in Psalm 139:

All I want now is to look at life. You may come and look at it with me, if you care to

I am quite content with philosophic contemplation. But, as the nineteenth century has gone bankrupt through an over-expenditure of sympathy, I would suggest that we should appeal to science to put us straight. The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional.

The command is Do no work. Just make space. Attend to what is around you. Learn that you don't have to DO to BE. Accept the grace of doing nothing. Stay with it until you stop jerking and squirming.

The "interior castle" of the human soul, as Teresa of Avila called it, has many rooms, and they are slowly occupied by God, allowing us time and room to grow.

It is much more important to cultivate the quiet, inward space of a constant listening than to always be approaching God for specific direction.