Henri Nouwen
Dutch Catholic priest, professor, psychologist, and spiritual writer whose books — including The Wounded Healer (1972), The Return of the Prodigal Son (1992), Life of the Beloved, In the Name of Jesus, Reaching Out, and Out of Solitude — have sold more than seven million copies and are taught widely across denominational lines as foundational texts of pastoral and contemplative Christianity. Born 1932 in Nijkerk, ordained in 1957, Nouwen taught at the Menninger Foundation, Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard before leaving academia in 1986 to live as pastor in residence at L'Arche Daybreak — a community for adults with intellectual disabilities near Toronto — where he remained until his death in 1996. His writing turns repeatedly to a small set of themes: belovedness as the foundation of identity, brokenness as the doorway to communion, hospitality as the heart of Christian practice, and downward mobility as the shape of a Christ-following life.
115
quotes in library
Quotes by Henri Nouwen
115 quotes“They taught me that I am loved not for what I do but for who I am.”
loveIn the Name of Jesus
“They taught me that the human heart longs for communion.”
heartIn the Name of Jesus
“And that communion is given freely when we make ourselves small enough to receive it.”
communionIn the Name of Jesus
“Joy and sorrow are no longer opposites.”
joyThe Return of the Prodigal Son
“Joy can be born from sorrow. Sorrow can deepen joy.”
joyThe Return of the Prodigal Son
“In the heart that knows the Father's love, both can dwell at once.”
heartThe Return of the Prodigal Son
“Not many of us are willing to risk being thought a fool.”
riskIn the Name of Jesus
“Yet the way of Jesus is the way of the holy fool.”
jesusIn the Name of Jesus
“To follow Jesus is, very often, to do what looks foolish to the world.”
followingIn the Name of Jesus
“Downward mobility is the shape of a Christ-following life.”
downwardThe Selfless Way of Christ
“The world rewards upward mobility. The kingdom rewards downward mobility.”
mobilityThe Selfless Way of Christ
“This is the great inversion of the gospel.”
gospelThe Selfless Way of Christ
“Resist the temptation to be relevant.”
relevanceIn the Name of Jesus
“Resist the temptation to be spectacular.”
spectacularIn the Name of Jesus
“Resist the temptation to be powerful.”
powerIn the Name of Jesus
“These are the three great temptations of every Christian leader.”
temptationsIn the Name of Jesus
“They are the same temptations Jesus faced in the desert.”
jesusIn the Name of Jesus
“Spiritual life is not a movement from sorrow to joy.”
spiritualThe Inner Voice of Love
“It is a movement from sorrow to deeper joy that contains the sorrow.”
joyThe Inner Voice of Love
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