“In the beginning we must simplify the subject, thus unavoidably falsifying it, and later we must sophisticate away the falsely simple beginning.”

Man’s obsession to add to his wealth and honor is the chief source of his misery.

I will destroy my enemies by converting them to friends.

It is man’s duty to love and to fear God, even without hope of reward or fear of punishment.

The great sickness and the grievous evil consist in this: that all the things that man finds written in books, he presumes to think of as true-and all the more so if the books are old.

It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.

All the evils that men cause to each other because of certain desires, or opinions or religious principles, are rooted in ignorance. [All hatred would come to an end] when the earth was flooded with the knowledge of God.

There are eight levels of charity. The highest is when you strengthen a man’s hand until he need no longer be dependent upon others.

It is hard for a woman with whom an uncircumcised man has had sexual intercourse to separate from him. In my opinion this is the strongest of the reasons for circumcision.

All forces that reside in the body are angels.

One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good – he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad – he and the world is destroyed.

All attributes ascribed to God are attributes of His acts, and do not imply that God has any qualities.

The soul is subject to health and disease, just as is the body. The health and disease of both, undoubtedly depend upon beliefs and customs, which are peculiar to mankind.

The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.

God who preceded all existence is a refuge.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

God cannot be compared to anything.

If the art of war were nothing but the art of avoiding risks, glory would become the prey of mediocre minds, I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest.

We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.

The very first law in advertising is to avoid the concrete promise and cultivate the delightfully vague.

The greater number of people take their opinions on trust, to avoid the trouble of exercising their own minds, and these indolent beings naturally adhere to the letter, rather than the spirit of a law, divine or human.

Avoid the flourish. Do not be afraid to be weak. Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you’re tired. You look like you could go on forever. Now come into my arms. You are the image of my beauty.

There is hardly a better way to avoid discussion than by releasing an argument from the control of the present and by saying that only the future will reveal its merits.

The secret to your existence is right in front of you. It manifests itself as all those things you know you should do but are avoiding.

He must avoid quarreling as he would avoid drinking a deadly poison.