Henri Nouwen Quotes

• Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that he is actively present in our lives—healing, teaching, and guiding — we need to set aside a time and space to give him our undivided attention.

  Henri Nouwen

  "The Spiritual Life: Eight Essential Titles by Henri Nouwen".

  2666

• 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

  3743

• What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.

  Henri Nouwen

  "In the Name of Jesus". Book by Henri Nouwen, 1989.

  1743

• When I was teaching, I didn't feel I had a home, a place where I truly belonged.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: www.liguorian.org

  1304

• People forget ideas; they don't forget the real presence.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: www.liguorian.org

  468

• 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.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: www.liguorian.org

  989

• I really believe that what we finally want is to know God, as God has come to be known through Jesus. Knowledge is knowledge of the heart - the Spirit - I would say. It is the Spirit in us who reveals God.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: archives.wineskins.org

  2440

• Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.

  Henri Nouwen

  Henri J. M. Nouwen (2017). “You are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living”, Hachette UK

  3517

• 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

  1389

• The only feelings that do not heal are the ones you hide.

  Henri Nouwen

  1646

• In the face of the oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile.

  Henri Nouwen

  2863

• Emit gratitude as though it was done

  Henri Nouwen

  609

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

  Henri Nouwen

  5101

• People with handicaps teach me that being is more important than doing, the heart is more important than the mind, and caring together is better than caring alone.

  Henri Nouwen

  1884

• This brief lifetime is my opportunity to receive love, deepen love, grow in love, and give love.

  Henri Nouwen

  Henri J. M. Nouwen (2017). “You are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living”, Hachette UK

  1002

• In community, where you have all the affection you could ever dream of, you feel that there is a place where even community cannot reach. That's a very important experience. In that loneliness, which is like a dark night of the soul, you learn that God is greater than community.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: archives.wineskins.org

  1562

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

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: archives.wineskins.org

  1175

• Peace is first of all the art of being.

  Henri Nouwen

  2015

• The main question is not, how can we hide our wounds...but how can we put our woundedness in service to others.

  Henri Nouwen

  3769

• Life is precious. Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird. To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support. Life and death are connected by vulnerability. The newborn child and the dying elder both remind us of the preciousness of our lives. Let's not forget the preciousness and vulnerability of life during the times we are powerful, successful, and popular.

  Henri Nouwen

  Henri J. M. Nouwen (2009). “Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith”, p.3, Harper Collins

  2642

• Dare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love.

  Henri Nouwen

  Henri Nouwen (2010). “The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom”, p.81, Image

  4694

• Each individual human being can claim the Spirit of Jesus as the guiding spirit of his or her life. In that Spirit we can speak and act freely and confidently with the knowledge that the same Spirit that inspired Jesus is inspiring us.

  Henri Nouwen

  5139

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

  Henri Nouwen

  467

• If you meet God in solitude, you discover the God you meet is the God who embraces all people.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: archives.wineskins.org

  936

• I speak of God's love and grace and redemption and freedom, but when I say "in the context of this community," it is heard differently. To be with people so obviously broken, so obviously handicapped, and here to discover real joy and peace - that makes the Word of God come alive.

  Henri Nouwen

  Source: www.liguorian.org

  3714

• Real greatness is often humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.

  Henri Nouwen

  2003

• Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering – for us. And calling us to share in God’s suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope.

  Henri Nouwen

  Henri Nouwen (2004). “Turn My Mourning into Dancing”, p.11, Thomas Nelson Inc

  3647

• We just have to recognize life for what it is: a gift to be grateful for, not a property to cling to, hoard, or defend.

  Henri Nouwen

  "Peacework: Prayer, Resistance, Community".

  4332

• Perhaps nothing helps us make the movement from our little selves to a larger world than remembering God in gratitude. Such a perspective puts God in view in all of life, not just in the moments we set aside for worship or spiritual disciplines. Not just in the moments when life seems easy.

  Henri Nouwen

  Henri Nouwen (2004). “Turn My Mourning into Dancing”, p.16, Thomas Nelson Inc

  4647

• 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.

  Henri Nouwen

  "In the Name of Jesus". Book by Henri Nouwen, 1989.

  4329

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