Thomas Merton Quote of the Week from Greg Bover

“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Born in France to an American Quaker mother and an Anglican father from New Zealand, Merton was raised in several different countries, moving often, especially after his mother’s death when he was six and then his father’s death when he was sixteen. Although agnostic as a young man, he was increasingly drawn to the Catholic Church, despite an almost libertine period in which he may have fathered a child. He was confirmed in 1939 after receiving advanced degrees from Cambridge and Columbia Universities.

Merton entered the Gethsemani Monastery in Kentucky in 1941, and began a life of contemplation and writing resulting in the autobiographical work The Seven Storey Mountain, often cited as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century. His interest in other religions and his friendship with the Dalai Lama, D. T Suzuki, Chatral Rinpoche and other spiritual leaders opened the doors of comparative study to many who seek understanding through self-examination.

Greg Bover