35+ Henri Nouwen Quotes From The Dutch Priest And Writer

Henri Nouwen was a Dutch priest, acclaimed author, professor, and theologian.

He taught at various universities such as Yale, Notre Dame, and Harvard. Over his lifespan, he authored more than 30 books that went on to change the lives of millions of people.

Some of Henri Nouwen's most popular titles include, 'The Return of The Prodigal Son' (1992), 'The Wounded Healer' (1972), 'Life Of The Beloved' (1992), and 'Bread For The Journey' (1996). Throughout his life, Nouwen occupied various positions and often traveled in order to help vulnerable communities. He spent the last years of his life in a French community called L'Arche, where people with different intellectual challenges co-habit together as companions. His work reflected his raw and authentic feelings, which resonated with a wide audience and garnered him a grand following. If you're interested in reading some great Henri Nouwen quotes, sit tight! We have the best Henri Nouwen quotes prepared for you.

If you would like to find some other interesting quotes, you can check out [St. John of the Cross quotes] and John O'Donohue quotes.

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If you're a fan of 'Bread for the Journey', you're going to love these quotes! Here are some of the best quotes by Henri Nouwen.

1. "Someday I would love to write about Vincent Van Gogh - his paintings and letters continue to inspire me very much."

- Henri Nouwen.

2. "Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day."

- Henri Nouwen.

3. "Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other."

- Henri Nouwen.

4. "Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle. It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when we ask for counsel. But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love."

- Henri Nouwen.

5. "Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection."

- Henri Nouwen.

6. "Solitude, whether it is connected with a physical space or not, is essential for our spiritual lives. It is not an easy place to be, since we are so insecure and fearful that we are easily distracted by whatever promises immediate satisfaction."

- Henri Nouwen.

7. "We have to trust that our stories deserve to be told.  We may discover that the better we tell our stories the better we will want to live them."

- Henri Nouwen.

8. "Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air."

- Henri Nouwen.

9. "We are called to be fruitful - not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness."

- Henri Nouwen.

10. "Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness."

- Henri Nouwen.

11. "To be able to enjoy fully the many good things the world has to offer, we must be detached from them. To be detached does not mean to be indifferent or uninterested. It means to be non-possessive."

- Henri Nouwen.

12. "Just as words lose their power when they are not born out of silence, so openness loses its meaning when there is no ability to be closed."

- Henri Nouwen.

13. "Trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."

- Henri Nouwen.

Here are some Henri Nouwen quotes about God that you will find moving. For those who are looking for 'Henri Nouwen wounded healer quotes', this list will suffice. Here are some of the best Henri JM Nouwen quotes about spirituality, love and time.

14. "With a friend, we can be still and know that God is there with both of us."

- Henri Nouwen.

15. "Because where God wants you to be, God holds you safe and gives you peace, even when there is pain."

- Henri Nouwen.

16. "Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God's eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God's heart."

- Henri Nouwen.

17. "I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God's love within me and around me."

- Henri Nouwen.

18. "You have to close yourself to the outside world so you can enter your own heart and the heart of God through your pain."

- Henri Nouwen.

19. "To pray means to open your hands before God."

- Henri Nouwen.

20. "God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior."

- Henri Nouwen.

21. "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.

22. "A spiritual life without prayer is like the gospel without Christ. "

- Henri Nouwen.

Here is a list of Henri Nouwen quotes about love.

23. "The more you have loved and have allowed yourself to suffer because of your love, the more you will be able to let your heart grow wider and deeper."

- Henri Nouwen.

24. "The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy."

- Henri Nouwen.

25. "What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love."

- Henri Nouwen.

26. "Often love is offered to you, but you do not recognize it. You discard it because you are fixed on receiving it from the same person to whom you gave it."

- Henri Nouwen.

27. "Love is based on the mutuality of the confession of our total self to each other."

- Henri Nouwen.

28. "When you have loved deeply, that love can grow even stronger after the death of the person you love."

- Henri Nouwen.

29. "The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love."

- Henri Nouwen.

30. "We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking."

- Henri Nouwen.

This is a list of Henri J. M. Nouwen quotes about life.

31. "Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, 'I love you, too.'"

- Henri Nouwen.

32. "Life is a gift, not to possess but to share."

- Henri Nouwen.

33. "Our lives are unique stones in the mosaic of human existence - priceless and irreplaceable."

- Henri Nouwen.

34. "In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others."

- Henri Nouwen.

35. "Prayer is not a pious decoration of life but the breath of human existence."

- Henri Nouwen.

36. "You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking."

- Henri Nouwen.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Henri Nouwen quotes then why not take a look at [St. Vincent de Paul quotes], or worship quotes.

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