Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, who later came to be known as Father Louis, was an American priest, Catholic thinker and a Trappist monk, who rose to prominence as a leading writer on Catholicism. He was born in France in 1915 but his family left for the United States in the same year and settled down in New York. Merton was not only a great Catholic thinker and writer, but also a social activist of great repute and was known to be a keen researcher on comparative religion. The priesthood was ordained on Merton in 1949 and from then on, he was known as Father Louis. However, it was as a writer of spiritual books that he became most famous and produced a rich body of work that included over 70 books. His most famous work is ‘The Seven Storey Mountain’ that was published in 1948 and was included among the 100 best books of non-fiction by ‘National Review’. The book was so influential that it inspired many American citizens especially teenagers to head for monasteries in search of spiritual upliftment. Here are some of the famous quotes from the life and works of Thomas Merton, the man who popularized spirituality. Read on the collection of thoughts, quotes and sayings by Thomas Merton those are sure to lift your spirits and guide you in the hour of tide.