That man can never transcend his own self. The most fatal trap into which thinking may fall is the equation of existence and expediency.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHELThe utilization of its resources is taken to be the chief purpose of man in God’s creation.
More Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
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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, but all are responsible.
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Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.
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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.
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Awareness of the divine begins with wonder.
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What we cannot comprehend by analysis, we become aware of in awe.
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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.
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And yet we must not regard this revolt as entirely negative. The energy that rejects many obsolete laws is an entirely positive impulse for renewal of life and law.
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Only in His presence shall we learn that the glory of humankind is not in its will to power but in its power of compassion.
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Remember that there is meaning beyond absurdity. Know that every deed counts, that every word is power…Above all, remember that you must build your life as if it were a work of art.
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It’s silence remains unbroken; no words can carry it away. Sometimes we wish the world could cry and tell us about that which made it pregnant with fear–filling grandeur.
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To sense the ultimate in the common and the simple: to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL -
The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference.
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To serve does not mean to surrender but to share.
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In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.
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To answer, to live in a way which is compatible with the grandeur and mystery of living.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL