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No Man Is an Island Paperback – October 28, 2002

by Thomas Merton (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 789 ratings
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In No Man Is an Island, religious scholar and theologian Thomas Merton offers "a stimulating series of spiritual reflections which will prove helpful for all struggling to find the meaning of human existence and to live the richest, fullest and noblest life” (Chicago Tribune).

"Without a life of the spirit, our whole existence becomes unsubstantial and illusory. The life of the spirit, by integrating us in the real order established by God, puts us in the fullest possible contact with reality — not as we imagine it, but as it really is."

A recapitulation of Merton's earlier work Seeds of Contemplation, this collection of sixteen essays plumbs aspects of human spirituality. He addresses those in search of enduring values, fulfillment, and salvation in prose that is, as always, inspiring and compassionate.
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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 28, 2002
  4. Dimensions
    5.31 x 0.62 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0156027739
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0156027731
  7. See all details
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  1. I cannot discover God in myself and myself in Him unless I have the courage to face myself exactly as I am, with all my limitations, and to accept others as they are, with all their limitations.
    Highlighted by 1,454 Kindle readers
  2. For it seems to me that the first responsibility of a man of faith is to make his faith really part of his own life, not by rationalizing it but by living it.
    Highlighted by 1,399 Kindle readers
  3. We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves properly and thus also love others. What do I mean by loving ourselves properly? I mean, first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give to others.
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was born in France and came to live in the United States at the age of 24. He received several awards recognizing his contribution to religious study and contemplation, including the Pax Medal in 1963, and remained a devoted spiritualist and a tireless advocate for social justice until his death in 1968.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; First Edition (October 28, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0156027739
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0156027731
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.62 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 789 ratings

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Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton

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Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.

After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.

The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.

During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.

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Top reviews from the United States

Justin B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, Thought-Provoking, Resonant Piece of Artistic Mysticism, at its best!
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2014
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First off, I'm not Christian in any way, and I'm not atheistic. I am a spiritual wanderer at this point in my life, which feels like such an aberrant, social pariah type title to carry in a world that is mired by obnoxious categorical thinking, and vacuous forms of "nominal" descriptions of one's spiritual identity. It's all so tidy and sterile, almost too symmetrical, for something as wondrously mysterious, exciting, and endlessly enthralling as the deepest questions that really get to the heart of "What it means to be human?"

I discovered Thomas Merton by pure happenstance, at a small, private catholic college, where I felt I misjudged him terribly, letting my own spiritual conflicts completely taint my thorough enjoyment of the depth of Thomas Merton's wonderful autobiography. Nonetheless, something from his autobiography lingered with me;otherwise, I doubt I'd search out for his more spiritual-centric books, like this one.

The title is derived from a John Donne sermon, where the famous, yet so deceptively simple line "No Man is an Island," sticks out of that sermon like a sore-thumb. Our meditation on the death of another shouldn't be self-pitying, morbid, or an attempt to utilize it selfishly for another fundamentalist hell sermon (providing reasons for gloating/self-gratification over the thought that you're in heaven, and those many others are not..).

Like John Donne, Thomas Merton's thoughtful, poetic book, exploring the tenets of true spirituality-charity,love, peace, humane poverty, Elizabeth Bishop style empathy- is thankfully the greatest antithesis to the life-hating, very dark, cold, almost nihilistic fundamentalism that is out there to steal out hearts away, make us fear life, and cause us to think love and charity is only for our own selfish benefit.

This is spirituality that heals, and makes spiritual wanderers, lost in the mire of so many voices saying "what is right theology, what is wrong theology," and all those clashing, irritating, world-shrinking shouts of "God is this..." "God is that.." All this stuff deprives any real spiritual thinker from peace, forbearance of the soul, and it is Thomas Merton's writing that will keep you afloat, offering you such wise words of wisdom about how to live life fully with the right type of mindset; one that emanates peace.
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Book Glutton
5.0 out of 5 stars No one is left unfed by the fruits of this Perennial Classic!
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2010
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A timeless classic filled with timeless ideas and ideals.

I think Merton writes for all of us in this book. He leads us, he uplifts us, he motivates us, he accuses us, he challenges us, and he comforts us. He exudes such a solid spirituality.

I read this for the first time in the mid 70's, riding the #7 IRT subway to and from Manhattan every day. I look back at how Merton (or maybe it was not him) had the ability to captivate me in that environment. He just seemed to draw me in, amidst all the noise and heat of summer (there was no air-conditioning). I still remember the experience--a challenging, transforming, spiritual experience.

Part of my memory of this was that I encountered Truth--It was alive!--though I could not always describe how that was so. That memory has always allured me to reread this book. I did--a number of times. A reread of this is a completely new experience! I recently read him again, first the book--next as an audio book. I think the latter experience was even more impressive. Hearing his words has a remarkable effect. I don't think Merton (or Truth) leaves anybody unchanged!

You will never consider this a waste of time!
21 people found this helpful
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Big Rig
5.0 out of 5 stars True Profundity
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2023
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Elegant and thought provoking. Every Christian should read this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Matt and Erin K.
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book to Ponder about the Core Tennets of Christian Life
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2017
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This is a book to be sipped. Drink too fast and you will burn, but drink it slow and you get a lot of warmth and flavor. The format is a series of theological essays where each essay is composed of a topic and then a numbered list of elements that attempt to explain and add depth to the topic.

There were parts that enlivened my thoughts and spoke to me, while there were others that weren't quite clicking for me. I highlighted the book over 80 times and I don't think I highlight easily.

Here are a few quotes that stood out to me.
---
LOVE
This definition of love is so short, but so potent. I found myself keeping the quote in mind as I went about my day. When I would interact with someone and it got difficult, whether frustrating or complex, I would think back to this quote and it would allow me to take the higher road. Instead of doing what I want to someone I love, I would attempt to do what is "really good" for them objective of my personal desires.

"To love another is to will what is really good for him. Such love must be based on truth."
---
OBEDIENCE and SANCTITY
I love this idea that obedience is not the point.

"Sanctity does not consist merely in doing the will of God. It consists in willing the will of God. For sanctity is union with God, and not all those who carry out His will are united with His will."

"He does not need our sacrifices, He asks for our selves. And if He prescribes certain acts of obedience, it is not because obedience is the beginning and the end of everything. It is only the beginning. Charity, divine union; transformation in Christ: these are the end."
---
ACTION and CONTEMPLATION
This harmony or yin/yang perspective of inward contemplation and charitable action turned into a metaphor of spring and stream is great symbolism.

"Action is charity looking outward to other men, and contemplation is charity drawn inward to its own divine source. Action is the stream, and contemplation is the spring. The spring remains more important than the stream, for the only thing that really matters is for love to spring up inexhaustibly from the infinite abyss of Christ and of God."
---
WORK vs AGITATION
Ever feel like you are just going through the motions (agitation), or have you ever feel fully engaged in life or your vocation (work)? Merton explains it well.

"Work occupies the body and the mind and is necessary for the health of the spirit. Work can help us to pray and be recollected if we work properly. Agitation, however, destroys the spiritual usefulness of work and even tends to frustrate its physical and social purpose. Agitation is the useless and ill-directed action of the body. It expresses the inner confusion of a soul without peace. Work brings peace to the soul that has a semblance of order and spiritual understanding. It helps the soul to focus upon, its spiritual aims and to achieve them. But the whole reason for agitation is to hide the soul from itself, to camouflage its interior conflicts and their purposelessness, and to induce a false feeling that 'we are getting somewhere.'"
---
APPROACH to TRUTH
I like this perspective of being a servant to truth or falsely attempting to become the master of truth.

"There is a way of knowing the truth that makes us true to ourselves and God, and, therefore, makes us more real and holier. But there is another way of receiving the truth that makes us untrue, unholy. The difference between these two lies in the action of our will. If my will acts as the servant of the truth, consecrating my whole soul to what the intelligence has seen, then I will be sanctified by the truth. I will be sincere. “My whole body will be lightsome” (Matthew 6:22). But if my will takes possession of truth as its master, as if the truth were my servant, as if it belonged to me by right of conquest, then I will take it for granted that I can do with it whatever I please. This is the root of all falsity. The saint must see the truth as something to serve, not as something to own and manipulate according to his own good pleasure."
---
LETTING GOD GO
A key element of spirituality is the acknowledgement that you will never fully capture Him. He is too big.

"God approaches our minds by receding from them. We can never fully know Him if we think of Him as an object of capture, to be fenced in by the enclosure of our own ideas. We know Him better after our minds have let Him go."

I could go on. Lots of wisdom from a Catholic theologian and mystic.
75 people found this helpful
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Bluebird
5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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Will strengthen yiur faith if you're a Catholic & convert you if you're not.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Merton is good food
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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I heard many things attributed to Thomas Merton over the past 4 decades and I began go read his works in 2022. I have get to be disappointed.
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Maf
5.0 out of 5 stars Merci
Reviewed in Canada on December 7, 2018
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Merci
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DANIEL LONDON
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2016
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Book which will uplift your spirit.
3 people found this helpful
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Mrs. Colleen M. Paul
5.0 out of 5 stars No Man is an Island
Reviewed in Canada on October 12, 2016
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Thomas Mertons most famous book comes highly recommended.
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Mrs Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2016
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Great reading and reflecting.
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Donald Stabler
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 21, 2017
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one of his better books
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