John O'Donohue

John O'Donohue

Irish poet, philosopher, and former Catholic priest, one of the most beloved spiritual writers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Born in 1956 in County Clare, on the limestone Burren of Ireland's western coast, he wrote his doctoral thesis on Hegel and spent two decades as a parish priest before leaving the priesthood to write full-time. His 1997 book Anam Cara — Gaelic for 'soul friend' — introduced English-speaking readers to the Celtic spiritual imagination and became one of the most quoted contemporary spiritual texts. His subsequent books, especially To Bless the Space Between Us (his collected blessings, published the year of his sudden death in 2008), made him a household name in the global contemplative community. His blessings — 'For a New Beginning,' 'For Solitude,' 'Beannacht' — are read at weddings, funerals, and ordinary mornings around the world.

107

quotes in library

Quotes by John O'Donohue

107 quotes
“Solitude is the place where we discover we are eternally one.”
solitudeAnam Cara
“Time is the joy of being.”
timeAnam Cara
“To be alive is to be in dialogue with the world.”
aliveAnam Cara
“In your darkness, the dawn is preparing.”
darknessTo Bless the Space Between Us
“This is the time to be slow, lie low to the wall until the bitter weather passes.”
slownessTo Bless the Space Between Us
“May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart.”
blessingTo Bless the Space Between Us
“There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect.”
kindnessAnam Cara
“In the silence of the soul, the divine speaks.”
silenceEternal Echoes
“Whatever quality you nourish in yourself, the same quality blossoms in your life.”
qualityAnam Cara
“The body is your only home in the universe.”
bodyAnam Cara
“Senses are doorways to the divine.”
sensesAnam Cara
“The eyes of the heart see what the visible eye misses.”
heartAnam Cara
“Do not be afraid of the dark, for in the dark, the seed grows.”
darkTo Bless the Space Between Us
“Each of us is created with a unique voice. Speak yours.”
voiceAnam Cara
“There is a place inside you that has never been wounded.”
untouchedEternal Echoes
“The soul is the dream of the body.”
soulAnam Cara
“Light cannot exist without darkness, and darkness cannot exist without light.”
dualityAnam Cara
“To be human is to be on a journey toward greater authenticity.”
journeyEternal Echoes
“In the deepest sense, time is the rhythm of the soul.”
timeAnam Cara
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