Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Love of the Cell
To withdraw deliberately from outward noise, company, and curiosity into inward silence and self-keeping, so the soul grows quiet enough to learn the hidden things of Scripture and keep its own peace.
Love of the cell: Withdraw on purpose from noise, idle company, and curiosity into quiet. Keep silence outwardly and inwardly so the soul can settle (“In silence and quiet the devout soul. learneth the hidden things of the Scriptures”). Order your own peace first. Make the solitude a doorway to God, and return to it often.
What it is
à Kempis devotes a whole chapter to “the love of solitude and silence” (Bk 1, Ch 20). The practice is to withdraw on purpose from outward distraction, idle company, and restless curiosity into an inward quiet — the monastic “cell” understood both literally (one’s room) and inwardly (a kept, recollected heart).
His promise is that this quiet is where real learning happens: “In silence and quiet the devout soul goeth forward and learneth the hidden things of the Scriptures” (Bk 1, Ch 20), and “In retirement thou shalt find what often thou wilt lose abroad” (Bk 1, Ch 20).
The recollection is also the ground of peace: “Keep thyself first in peace, and then shalt thou be able to keep peace among others” (Bk 2, Ch 3). It trains stillness (The Inner Creates the Outer), the gathering of attention (The Inner Creates the Outer), and the discipline of self-keeping (The Inner Creates the Outer).
(Distinct file note: this differs from Teresa’s and Underhill’s, which are focused-attention drills gathering the faculties onto an indwelling God; and from the various “going into the silence” New Thought files. à Kempis’s version is the medieval love of the cell — withdrawal from outward company/curiosity and the keeping of inner peace, framed as a habit of life rather than a seated technique.)
The Method
As à Kempis counsels it (a disposition/discipline more than a timed routine):
- Withdraw deliberately from noise and company. Choose retirement over crowds and chatter when you can: “In retirement thou shalt find what often thou wilt lose abroad” (Bk 1, Ch 20). He notes “the greatest saints avoided the society of men when they could.”
- Keep silence — outward and inward. Guard against idle talk and restless curiosity; let the soul settle into quiet so it can “go forward and learn the hidden things of the Scriptures” (Bk 1, Ch 20).
- Keep your own peace first. Order the inner self before trying to fix the outer world or other people: “Keep thyself first in peace, and then shalt thou be able to keep peace among others” (Bk 2, Ch 3).
- Make solitude a doorway to God, not mere isolation. à Kempis frames the withdrawal as opening room for God: “To him who withdraweth himself from his acquaintance and friends God with his holy angels will draw nigh” (Bk 1, Ch 20).
- Return to it often. Treat it as a recurring habit — brief withdrawals through the day plus a kept quiet — not a one-off retreat. (Sourcing note: quotations are from Book 1, Chapter 20 and Book 2, Chapter 3 of standard public-domain English translations.)
Source & Lineage
Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471) wrote from inside a community of the Devotio Moderna, whose spirituality centred on inward recollection and withdrawal from worldly distraction.
The “love of the cell” draws on the older monastic and Desert tradition (the cell that “teaches all things”) but à Kempis frames it for any devout reader as a portable interior discipline. → author id thomas a kempis.
Common refinements
Confusing withdrawal with avoidance. à Kempis means recollection that opens toward God and returns to charity — not flight from duty or people.
- Outward silence only. The harder, essential half is inward silence — quieting curiosity and self-talk, not just shutting the door.
- Fixing others before oneself. His order is explicit: peace in yourself first.
- Heroic isolation. For someone already lonely or low, prolonged solitude can harm; keep it proportionate and stay connected.