Under the terms of "fair use" most publishers will allow 250 words to be quoted from a book-length work of prose without charging a fee. This does not cover poetry, photographs, works of art or children's books.
 

Thomas Merton's major publishers in the United States are:

Curtis Brown - Jonathan Lyons

Doubleday - Alicia Dercole

Farrar, Straus & Giroux - https://us.macmillan.com/fsg/rightsandpermissions

Harcourt - [email protected]

HarperCollins - an on-line permissions form is available at: HarperCollins Publishers

New Directions - [email protected]
 

Permission to quote from unpublished materials held at the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University, in other public collections, and from material by Merton held in private collections is granted by the Thomas Merton Legacy Trust. Please contact the Thomas Merton Center, and your request will be forwarded to a representative of the Trust.
 

Photographs or drawings by Thomas Merton may not be used without the written permission of the Merton Legacy Trust and the payment of associated permission fees.