Solitude #1

The Christian saint is always in some sense a solitary, interiorly and exteriorly, too, in so far as he can be, and his solitude is not a rebellion against society or a denial of social obligations but the condition upon which his fruitfulness in the world depends. TM, Entering

It is in the desert that God forms the men who save the world of their time. TM, Entering

As soon as I get away from people the Presence of God invades me.  And when I am not divided by being with strangers (in a sense anyone I live with will always remain a stranger), I am with Christ.  TM, Entering

The wind ran over the bent, brown grasses and moved the shoulders of all the green trees, and I looked at the dark green mass of woods beyond the distillery on those hills down to the south of us and realized that it is when I am with people that I am lonely and when I am alone I am no longer lonely because then I have God and converse with Him (without words without distraction or interference.  TM, Entering

for me to find solitude is only to separate myself from all the forces that destroy me and destroy history, in order to be united with the Life and Peace that build the City of God in history and rescue the children of God from hell.  TM, Entering

Solitude is not found so much by looking outside the boundaries of your dwelling, as by staying within. TM, Entering

Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future.  Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present, you will never find it. TM, Entering

It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. TM, Entering

The more solitary I am, the more affection I have for [my brothers].  It is pure affection, and filled with reverence for the solitude of others.

Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.  TM, Entering

True solitude is a participation in the solitariness of God – Who is in all things.  TM, Entering

God’s solitude is not a local absence but a metaphysical transcendence.  His solitude is His Being. TM, Entering

For us, solitude is not a matter of being something more than other men, except by accident: for those who cannot be alone cannot find their true being and they are less than themselves. TM, Entering

For us solitude means withdrawal from an artificial and fictional level of being TM, Entering

Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future.  Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.  TM, Ascent

Solitude is not merely a negative relationship.  It is not merely the absence of people.  True solitude is a participation in the solitariness of God – Who is in all things.  TM, Sign

One must be in some sense a hermit before the care of souls can serve to lead one further into the desert. TM, Sign