The monk in hiding himself from the world becomes not less than himself, not less of a person, but more of a person, more truly and perfectly himself: for his personality and individuality are perfected in their true order, the spiritual, interior order, of union with God, the principle of all perfection. Thomas Merton
A habit does not a monk make. Francois Rabelais
My imagination is a monastery and I am its monk. John Keats
Mankind have such a deep stake in inward illumination, that there is much to be said by the hermit or monk in defence of his life of thought and prayer. Ralph Waldo Emerson