John O'Donohue
Irish poet, philosopher, and former Catholic priest, one of the most beloved spiritual writers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Born in 1956 in County Clare, on the limestone Burren of Ireland's western coast, he wrote his doctoral thesis on Hegel and spent two decades as a parish priest before leaving the priesthood to write full-time. His 1997 book Anam Cara — Gaelic for 'soul friend' — introduced English-speaking readers to the Celtic spiritual imagination and became one of the most quoted contemporary spiritual texts. His subsequent books, especially To Bless the Space Between Us (his collected blessings, published the year of his sudden death in 2008), made him a household name in the global contemplative community. His blessings — 'For a New Beginning,' 'For Solitude,' 'Beannacht' — are read at weddings, funerals, and ordinary mornings around the world.
quotes in library
Quotes by John O'Donohue
107 quotes“The beauty that emerges from woundedness is a beauty infused with feeling.”
“To be alive is to perceive beauty.”
“Loneliness is one of the great companions of the journey.”
“The soul transfigures everything by giving it a deeper resonance.”
“There is not one moment of your life when you are not held by tenderness.”
“Aging is one of the most beautiful and deepest experiences of life.”
“Each old person is the keeper of a remembered world.”
“Death is not the enemy. Death is the great threshold.”
“In death you do not just go away. You come into deeper presence.”
“Your body is your clay home. The body does not exist as a stranger to the divinity that is hidden everywhere.”
“The light of mind connects us to the eternal.”
“There is more to seeing than meets the eye.”
“Friendship is the cradle of consciousness.”
“In the secret of your heart, your friendship with God blossoms.”
“The soul that knows itself moves with grace.”
“To be a wanderer is to be open. To be open is to receive the world.”
“There is a wisdom in the body that the mind cannot reach.”
“In stillness, you can hear the breathing of the soul.”
“Each beginning is a path. Walk it with courage.”
Explore More Teachers
Discover wisdom from 500+ spiritual teachers across all traditions.
Browse All Teachers