Product Description As timely now as when it was originally published in 1956, Thoughts in Solitude addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private. In thoughtful and eloquent prose, Merton writes of our inalienable right to solitude and interior freedom. Society, he tells us, depends for its existence on the personal solitude of its members. Merton writes: “ When society is made up of men who know no interior solitude it can no longer be held together by love: and consequently it is held together by a violent and abusive authority. But when men are violently deprived of the solitude and freedom which are their due, the society in which they live becomes putrid, it festers with servility, resentment and hate. " Thoughts in Solitude stands alongside The Seven Storey Mountain as one of Merton's most enduring and popular works. About the Author Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer, a mystic, a poet, a social activist and a Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books, which include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism. He is considered one of the foremost spiritual guides of our times, and someone who pioneered interfaith dialogue and understanding and helped build Western understanding of mysticism and contemplation.