Quote by Thomas Merton
“Useless Hui Tzu said to Chuang Tzu: “All your teaching is centred on what has no use.” Chuang Tzu replied: “If you have no appreciation for what has no use, You cannot begin to talk about what can be used. The earth for example, is broad and vast, But of all this expanse a man uses only a few inches Upon which he happens to be standing. Now suppose you suddenly take away All that he actually is not using, So that all around his feet a gulf Yawns, and he stands in the Void With nowhere solid except under each foot. How long will he be able to use what he is using? Hui Tzu said: “It would cease to serve any purpose.” Chuang Tzu concluded: “This showsThe absolute necessity Of what has ' no use.”
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Thomas Merton wrote more than 70 books, mostly on spirituality, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Merton was a keen proponent of interfaith understanding.
Interest in his work contributed to a rise in spiritual exploration beginning in the 1960s and 1970s in the US. Merton's letters and diaries, reveal the intensity with which their author focused on social justice issues, including the civil rights movement and proliferation of nuclear arms. He had prohibited their publication for 25 years after his death. Publication raised new interest in Merton's life.