Quotes by Abraham Joshua Heschel

“...morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, ...”

“Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity growswith the ability to say no to oneself.”

“Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.”

“The primary purpose of prayer is not to make requests. The primary purpose is to praise, to sing, to chant. Because the essence of prayer is a song, and man cannot live without a song. Prayer may n...”

“To us, recollection is a holy act; we sanctify the present by remembering the past. To us Jews, the essence of faith is memory. To believe is to remember.”

“A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love an...”

“The Search for reason ends at the known; on the immense expanse beyond it only the sense of the ineffable can glide. It alone knows the route to that which is remote from experience and understandi...”

“There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious. Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time; to learn how to con...”

“Man is not a beast of burden, and the Sabbath is not for the purpose of enhancing the efficiency of his work.”

“Are we truly committed to the notion that ideals and values vary and alter in accordance with changing conditions? Should we not question such a relativistic dogma? Is not the degree of our sensiti...”

“This is one of the goals of the Jewish way of living: to experience commonplace deeds as spiritual adventures, to feel the hidden love and wisdom in all things.”

“The surest way to suppress our ability to understand the meaning of God and the importance of worship is to take things for granted...Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin.”

“We may not know whether our understanding is correct, or whether our sentiments are noble, but the air of the day surrounds us like spring which spreads over the land without our aid or notice.”

“We can never sneer at the stars, mock the dawn, or scoff at the totality of being.”

“Wonder or radical amazement is the chief characteristic of the religious man's attitude toward history and nature.”

“Who is a Jew? A person whose integrity decays when unmoved by the knowledge of wrong done to other people.”

“Worship is a way of seeing the world in the light of God.”

“To be or not to be is not the question, the vital question is how to be and how not to be”

“Mundus vult decipi'the world wants to be deceived. To live without deception presupposes standards beyond the reach of most people whose existence is largely shaped by compromise, evasion and mutua...”

“People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. T...”