“He who buries his head deep into a nosebag full of food cannot hope to see the invisible world.”

Those who look for seashells will find seashells; those who open them will find pearls.

Do not allow your heart to take pleasure with the praises of people, nor be saddened by their condemnation.

If you do not prepare now for the Afterlife, then when will you do so?

A man of bad character punishes his own soul.

Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your location in it, and work for your afterlife in proportion to your eternity in it.

This visible world is a trace of that invisible one and the former follows the latter like a shadow.

Whoever passes forty without his virtue overpowering his vice, let him get ready for hellfire. This advice contains enough for people of knowledge.

Man’s nature is made up of four elements, which produce in him four attributes, namely, the beastly, the brutal, the satanic, and the divine. In man there is something of the pig, the dog, the devil, and the saint.

The corruption of religions comes from turning them to mere words and appearances.

Does money upset the hearts of learned men? He answered, “men whose hearts are changed by money are not learned.”

If those who do not possess knowledge avoid the scholarly discussions, disagreement will end.

The hypocrite looks for faults; the believer looks for excuses.

The soul should take care of the body, just as the pilgrim on his way to Makkah takes care of his camel; but if the pilgrim spends his whole time in feeding and adorning his camel, the caravan will leave him behind, and he will perish in the desert.

The way to paradise is an uphill climb whereas hell is downhill. Hence, there is a struggle to get to paradise and not to hell.

Know, O beloved, that man was not created in jest or at random, but marvelously made and for some great end. Although he is not form everlasting, yet he lives for ever; and though his body is mean and earthly, yet his spirit is lofty and divine.

A human-being is not a human-being while his tendencies include self-indulgence, covetousness, temper and attacking other people.

Like most things of great worth, knowledge which is of eternal value comes only through personal prayer and pondering.

We must continue in prayer if we are to get an outpouring of the Spirit. Christ says there are some things we shall not get, unless we pray and fast, yes, “prayer and fasting.” We must control the flesh and abstain from whatever hinders direct fellowship with God.

To gain victory over the flesh was the purpose of fasting and celibacy, which denied the pleasures of this world for the sake of reward in the next.

If you study the Talmud you please God even more than you do by praying or fasting.

By some this state is reached through pills, powders, and physicians. By others through hygiene, fasting, and prayer. By others through direct perception.