“I prefer thought to action, an idea to a transaction, contemplation to activity.”

“Christian life is not a life divided between times for action and times for contemplation. No. Real social action is a way of contemplation, and real contemplation is the core of social action.”

“The problem with the contemplative life was that there was no end to contemplation, no fixed time limit after which thought had to be transformed into action. Contemplation was like sitting on a committee that seldom made recommendations and was ignored when it did, a committee that lacked even the authority to disband.”

“The ordinary activities I find most compatible with contemplation are walking, baking bread, and doing laundry. ”

“Art was as much in the activity as in the results. Works of art were not just the finished product, but the thought, the action, the process that created them.”

“The ultimate meaning of the active life is to make possible the happiness of contemplation.”