“How weary I am of being a writer. How necessary it is for monks to work in the fields, in the rain, in the sun, in the mud, in the clay, in the wind: these are our spiritual directors and our novice-masters. They form our contemplation. They instill us with virtue. They make us as stable as the land we live in. You do not get that out of a typewriter.” (3 March 1951)

Merton, Thomas. The Sign of Jonas. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., 1981, p. 321. (originally published 1953)

Comment: When you see how much Merton wrote over his shortened life, you can sort of wonder about snippets like this. He’s right, of course, that even prolific writers like himself need to get out away from the keyboard regularly and connect with creation. Also non-writers and non-prolific ones.