| Author Quoted | Albert Camus |
| Title Quoted | Carnets janvier 1942 - mars 1951 / Albert Camus |
| Date (Year/Month/Day) | 1966/10/16 |
| Imprint | Paris : Gallimard. 1964 |
| Quotation | Three small harlequins - two sweetgums and a maple - stand bright against the dark background of pine and cedar. Dim brilliance of the woods on a grey day. [ "¦ ] I am full of obscure lonely happiness because of her and because of the miracle of her existence. I tried to write a poem for her about it but the poem could come nowhere near. What finally started me off was this from Camus (in his Notebooks II - 274): Quand on a vu une seule fois le resplendissment du bonheur sur la visage d'un être lu'on aime, on sait qu'il ne peut pas y avoir d'autre vocation pour un homme que de susciter cette lumière sur les visages qui l'entourent "¦. [When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no other vocation than to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him "¦.] It is one of the most beautiful passages in all Camus and so well expresses my own deepest belief. |
| Quotation Source | Learning to love: exploring solitude and freedom. The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 6, 1966-1967.; Edited by Christine M. Bochen. / [San Francisco] : HarperCollins. 1997, p. 150 |
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| Notes | |
| Link to Merton's Copy |
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