The Need for Places of Silence — Thomas Merton

“In a world of noise, confusion and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace: not the peace of mere relaxation but the peace of inner clarity and love based on ascetic renunciation.” —Thomas Merton

from “Come to the Mountain: New Ways and Living Traditions in the Monastic Life” — St. Benedict’s Cistercian Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado (1964)