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Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes

Abraham Joshua Heschel quote from classy quote

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Dignity Discipline Inspirational Self Respect

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Faith Pilgrimage

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 not save us. But prayer may make us worthy of being saved.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Faith Prayer Song

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.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Faith Judaism Memories

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 understanding. Neither of them is amphibious: reason cannot go beyond the shore, and the sense of the ineffable is out of place where we measure, where we weigh. We do not leave the shore of the known in search of adventure or suspense or because of the failure of reason to answer our questions. We sail because our mind is like a fantastic seashell, and when applying our ear to its lips we hear a perpetual murmur from the waves beyond the shore. Citizens of two realms, we all must sustain a dual allegiance: we sense the ineffable in one realm, we name and exploit reality in another. Between the two we set up a system of references, but we can never fill the gap. They are as far and as close to each other as time and calendar, as violin and melody, as life and what lies beyond the last breath.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Ineffable Knowledge Life Reason

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.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Adventure Love Wisdom

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.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Correct Noble Sabbath Sentiments Spring Sunday Understanding

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Beast Burden Efficiency Man Work

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.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Appreciation Sin Wonder Worship

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 sensitivity to the validity of the ultimate ideals and values that fluctuates rather than the ultimate ideals and values?

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Idealism Ideals Relativism Values

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Appreciation Life Wonder

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Religion Wonder

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Altruism Communitarianism Conscience Integrity Jew Judaism Moral Responsibility

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Questions 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 mutual accommodation. Could they face their weakness, their vanity and selfishness, without a mask?

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Deception Truth

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. To be entertained is a passive state--it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle.... Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.Source: The Wisdom of Heschel

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Attention Celebration

Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Knowledge Doubt Wonder

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

~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel Light God World
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