Quotes about Contemplation

The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide to contemplative prayer. "Be willing to be blind, and give up all longing to know the why and how, for knowing will be more of a hindrance than a help." This 1912 edition was edited by Evelyn Underhill, and contains her introduction.

How exuberant and boisterous the universe is, Alma! It turns and turns, and the only constant is everything changes. It is a mystery we can only appreciate out of stillness. I'm living through a very interesting stage. My spirit contemplates the changes in my body with fascination, but this contemplation is not from a distance, but from within. My spirit and my body are together in this process.

You explained to me that inspiration is born of stillness, and creativity comes from movement.

The time when, most of all, you should withdraw into yourself is when you are forced to be in a crowd.

Flowers may beckon towards us, but they speak toward heaven and God.

We know only that we are living in these bodies and have a vague idea, because we have heard it, and because our faith tells us so, that we possess souls. As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or who dwells within them, or how precious they are, those are things which we seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul's beauty.

It is in the contemplation of what you desire that you create what it is you want for yourself

He who lives wisely to himself and his own heart looks at the busy world through the loopholes of retreat, and does not want to mingle in the fray.

Lord, I want to be up in my heart.

All through the night, men looked at the sky and were saddened by the stars.

I'm not an analyzer. I've got a son that analyzes everything and everybody. But I don't analyze people.

I give people a space to simply sit in silence and communicate with me deeply but non-verbally.