Thomas Merton Quotes about Temptation

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The biggest human temptation is... to settle for too little.

The biggest human temptation is... to settle for too little.

Thomas Merton

Wisdom, Temptation, Simple Life

Forbes, August 4, 1980.

Technology is not in itself opposed to spirituality and to religion. But it presents a great temptation.

Thomas Merton

Technology, Temptation, Spirituality

Thomas Merton (2009). “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”, p.18, Image

There is always a temptation to diddle around in the contemplative life, making itsy-bitsy statues.

Thomas Merton

Wisdom, Contemplative Life, Temptation

Thomas Merton (1998). “Contemplation in a World of Action: Second Edition, Restored and Corrected”, p.176, University of Notre Dame Pess

The greatest temptations are not those that solicit our consent to obvious sin, but those that offer us great evils masking as the greatest goods.

Thomas Merton

Wisdom, Evil, Temptation

But precisely this illusion that everything is "clear" is what is blinding us all. It is a serious temptation, and it is a subtle form of pride and worldly love of power and revenge.

Thomas Merton

Revenge, Pride, Temptation

Thomas Merton (1995). “Witness to Freedom: The Letters of Thomas Merton in Times of Crisis”, p.183, Macmillan