Was I capable of being happy in solitude? I didn’t think so. Was I capable of being happy in general? That’s the kind of question, I think, that is best not asked.
Serotonin: A Novel by Michel Houellebecq
Category: LONELINESS & SOLITUDE
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“The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; as it seemed good unto the Lord even so has it come to pass, blessed be the name of the Lord forever.” Let this speech be our utterance also over each event which befalls us, whether it be loss of property, or infirmity of body, or insult, or false accusation, or any other form of evil that happens to mankind, let us say these words:
“The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord so has it come to pass; blessed be the name of the Lord forever.”
If we practice this spiritual wisdom, we shall never experience any evil, even if we undergo countless sufferings, but the gain will be greater than the loss, the good will exceed the evil.
By these words you will cause God to be merciful to you, and will defend yourself against the tyranny of Satan. For as soon as your tongue has uttered these words, immediately the devil flees from you. And when he has hastened away, the cloud of dejection also is dispelled and the thoughts which afflict us take to flight, hurrying off in company with him. And in addition to all this you will win all manner of blessings both here and in Heaven. And you have a convincing example in the case of Job and of the apostle, who having for God’s sake despised the troubles of this world, obtained the everlasting blessings. Let us then be trustful and in all things which befall us let us rejoice and give thanks to the merciful God, that we may pass through this present life with serenity and obtain the blessings to come, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ to Whom be glory, honor and might always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Saint John Chrysostom
On the Two Paralytics in the Gospels
Homilies on Profitable Subjects -
Our first and foremost task is faithfully to care for the inward fire so that when it is really needed it can offer warmth and light to lost travelers. Nobody expressed this with more conviction than the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh:
“There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passersby only see a wisp of smoke coming through the chimney, and go along their way. Look here, now what must be done? Must one tend the inner fire, have salt in oneself, wait patiently yet with how much impatience the hour when somebody will come and sit down–maybe to stay? Let him who believes in God wait for the hour that will come sooner or later.”
Vincent van Gogh speaks here with the mind and heart of the Desert Fathers. He knew about the temptation to open all the doors so that passersby could see the fire and not just the smoke coming through the chimney. But he also realized that if this happened, this fire would die and nobody would find warmth and new strength. His own life is a powerful example of faithfulness to the inner fire. During his life nobody came to sit down at his fire, but today thousands have found comfort and consolation in his drawings, paintings, and letters.
—Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers -
The uneasiness of silence does not come from the silence itself but about what it reveals. A retreatant comes to a charterhouse in order to encounter God, and he begins by encountering an unexpected person: himself. The surprise is not particularly pleasant.
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When a candidate comes to make a retreat with us, many memories rise again to the surface. They have been in him for a long time, covered up by the noises of life. When the commotion stops, he can no longer escape, and he understands that the silence and solitude of the cell that he perceived as a place of rest are also a place of trial where he will have to face the most difficult combat: the battle with himself.
The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise
Cardinal Robert Sarah, Nicolas Diat -
“Try to unlearn officiousness and curiosity; for they can spoil solitude as nothing else can.”
—St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent -
“No one has ever properly understood me, I have never fully understood anyone; and no one understands anyone else.”
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe -
“I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other.”
—Rainer Maria Rilke
SO GOOD QUOTES 