Thomas Merton is one of my favorite writers, so when Prof. Harry Hollis passed this quote along to me I had to share it here:
There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence (and that is) activism and overwork….The rush and pressure of modern life are a form of violence.
To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence.
The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our won work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful. (Thomas Merton)
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