Quotes from Henri Nouwen
The spiritual life is a reaching out to our innermost self, to our fellow human and to our God.
- Henri Nouwen
Waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.
- Henri Nouwen
To be a Christian who is willing to travel with Christ on his downward road requires being willing to detach oneself constantly from any need to be relevant, and to trust ever more deeply the Word of God.
- Henri Nouwen
Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.
- Henri Nouwen
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
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."
- Henri Nouwen
If you want to know anything about community, you have to realize that the contemplative side is essential. Community without retreating and quiet time never survives.
- Henri Nouwen
The beginning and the end of all Christian leadership is to give your life for others.
- Henri Nouwen
The great call for the Church is to not just be concerned about right or wrong behavior, which is moral life, but about communion with God, which is mystical life.
- Henri Nouwen
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
Prayer is the center of the Christian life. It is the only necessary thing. It is living with God, here and now.
- Henri Nouwen
Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance.
- Henri Nouwen