It is of the essence of virtue that the good is not to be done for the sake of a reward.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHELSometimes there seems to be a greater separation between the church and God than between the church and state.
More Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
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When religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.
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Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme.
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A prophet’s true greatness is his ability to hold God and man in a single thought.
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I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder.
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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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God is either of no importance, or of supreme importance.
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Those who are open to the wonder will not miss it. Faith is found in solicitude for faith, in an inner care for the wonder that is everywhere.
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As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind.
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Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.
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Life is not meaningful…unle ss it is serving an end beyond itself; unless it is of value to someone else.
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To be is to stand for.
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He who is satisfied has never truly craved, and he who craves for the light of God neglects his ease for ardor.
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We do not step out of the world when we pray; we merely see the world in a different setting.
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Understanding God is not attained by calling into session all arguments for and against Him, in order to debate whether He is a reality or a figment of the mind.
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How embarrassing for man to be the greatest miracle on earth and not to understand it!
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Acceptance is appreciation, and the high value of appreciation is such that to appreciate appreciation seems to be the fundamental prerequisite for survival.
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Man is naturally self-centered and he is inclined to regard expediency as the supreme standard for what is right and wrong.
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Wisdom, maturity, tranquility do not come all of a sudden when we retire.
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When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
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Prayer begins at the edge of emptiness.
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When faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.
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It is not a psychical quality, something that exists in the mind only, but a force from the beyond.
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You must build your life as if it were a work of art.
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The self is not the hub but the spoke of the revolving wheel. It is precisely the function of prayer to shift the center of living from self-consciousness to self-surrender.
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We cannot approach the spirit unless we repair the vessels. Reverence for words – an awareness of the wonder of words, of the mystery of words – is an essential prerequisite for prayer.
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We can all do our share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and all frustrations and all disappointments.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL