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.
quotes in library
Quotes by Henri Nouwen
115 quotes“Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless.”
“Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”
“Hospitality is the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.”
“It is not just about hosting people. It is about creating spaciousness.”
“Hospitality is the heart of Christian practice.”
“Let me see your face, hear your voice, walk with you.”
“This is the simplest of prayers and the most needed.”
“You are not what is wrong with you.”
“You are loved beyond what is wrong.”
“That love is the foundation of all healing.”
“Care is, in the first place, paying attention.”
“To care for one another is to attend to one another.”
“Most of what we call problems would dissolve if we attended to one another.”
“My deepest vocation is to be a witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch.”
“Each of us has glimpses.”
“Each of us has been allowed to see something.”
“Bear witness to what you have seen.”
“That is your contribution to the human family.”
“At L'Arche I learned more from the assistants and the core members than from any university I ever attended.”
Explore More Teachers
Discover wisdom from 500+ spiritual teachers across all traditions.
Browse All Teachers