Henri Nouwen Quotes

Prayer and action...can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive. Prayer without action grows into powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation.

What is important is how well we love. God will make our love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.

Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing-sicknes s, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death--can take that love away.

Yes, it's a competitive world, but where is your heart?

There is nothing so important in the family as the sacred quality of the meal.

Joy and laughter are the gifts of living in the presence of God and trusting that tomorrow is not worth worrying about.

God's Kingdom is a place of abundance where every generous act overflows its original bounds and becomes part of the unbounded grace of God at work in the world.

The beatitudes say, "Blessed are the poor". They don't say, "Blessed are those who care for the poor."

The real enemies of our life are the 'oughts' and the 'ifs.' They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward into the unpredictable future. But real life takes place in the here and now.

I feel strongly that the God we meet in solitude is always the God who calls us to community.

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.

Ministry means the ongoing attempt to put one's own search for God, with all the moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those who want to join this search but do not know how.

God is your safety and your home. You are well embraced." Start living the multi-formity of life from this place. If you can hold on to that, it all becomes one.

The best of community does give one a deep sense of belonging and well-being; and in that sense community takes away loneliness.

The evangelical movement has become just a bit victimized by a success-oriented culture, wanting the church - like the corporation - to be successful.

My writing has developed drastically . The Return of the Prodigal Son is the most important thing I've done, and my most mature book.

Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.

The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark.

If you believe you are the beloved of God, you need to spend time listening to his voice - period! You can't say, "Yes God calls me the beloved, but I have to go out to do something now."

Life is a gift, not to possess, but to share.

God is a God of the present. God is always in the moment, be that moment hard or easy, joyful and painful.

The difference between rich and poor is not that the rich sin is more than the poor, that the rich find it easier to call sin a virtue.

We have to keep asking ourselves: 'What does it all mean? What is God trying to tell us? How are we called to live in the midst of all this?' Without such questions our lives become numb and flat.

In God's eyes the most significant is often the most hidden.

What is forgotten cannot be healed, and that which cannot be healed easily becomes the cause of greater evil.

When you recognize the festive and the still moments as moments of prayer, then you gradually realize that to pray is to live.

Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.

Although I am a committed Catholic priest, and nowhere hide that fact, my focus is very much a spiritual journey.

Let's dare to enter into an intimate relationship with God without fear, trusting that we will receive love and always more love.

To live in the present, we must deeply believe that what is most important is in the here and now.

Be sure that you make a difference in the world.

Spiritual identity means we are not what we do or what people say about us. And we are not what we have. We are the beloved daughters and sons of God.

The spiritual life is not a life before, after, or beyond our everyday existence. No, the spiritual life can only be real when it is lived in the midst of the pains and joys of the here and now.

The more we touch the intimate love of God which creates, sustains, and guides us, the more we recognize the multitude of fruits that come forth from that love.

We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for.

When we break bread and give it to each other, fear vanishes and God becomes very close.

For many, religion has to do with what we are allowed to do and not allowed to do. In the end, that doesn't bear fruit.

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.

The world is waiting for new saints, ecstatic men and women who are so deeply rooted in the love of God that they are free to imagine a new international order.

God wants you to live for others and to live that presence well.

When we give generously, with an abundance mentality, what we give away will multiply.

It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends.

Emit gratitude as though it was done

In their poverty, the mentally handicapped reveal God to us and hold us close to the gospel.

Jesus says, "Keep your heart on the kingdom first. Keep your heart on God's love. Keep focused on the fact that you are God's beloved daughter or son. That's the truth of who you are.

Those who think that they have arrived, have lost their way. Those who think they have reached their goal, have missed it. Those who think they are saints, are demons.

Every time you reject yourself, you idealize others

Friendship has always belonged to the core of my spiritual journey.

Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another.

It's good to have a prayer on your lips wherever you go.