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 with everything is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
Thomas Merton, The Violence of Modern Life
January 22, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Great quote! I read the Seven Storey Mountain some years ago but not the work this quote is from. Very nice.
January 22, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I do think that promoting TPRS is a form of activism, and I posted that for myself, to remind myself of the dangers inherent in trying to share ideas with people who are not ready to hear them.