“Though he now has the capacity to communicate anything, anywhere, instantly, man finds himself with nothing to say. Not that there are not many things he could communicate, or should attempt to communicate. He should, for instance, be able to meet his fellow man and discuss ways of building a peaceful world. He is incapable of this kind of confrontation.”

Merton, Thomas. “Symbolism: Communication or Communion?.” (1966) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 247.

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Comment: And he wrote this way back in 1966, years before cell phones, blogs, social media, and the 24-hour news cycle! What would Merton have said about all these things and our continuing incapability of building a peaceful world?