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.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHELWe 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.
More Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
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Friendship, a puzzle to the syllogistic and critical mentality, is not based on experiments or tests of another person’s qualities but on trust.
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The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.
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The Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living.
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Religion has become an impersonal affair, an institutional loyalty. It survives on the level of activities rather than in the stillness of commitment.
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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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Philosophy, to be relevant, must offer us a wisdom to live by.
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Audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming the heart, usurping the mind–these are all a drive towards serving Him who rings our hearts like a bell.
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Few are guilty, but all are responsible.
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Wonder, or radical amazement, is a way of going beyond what is given in thing and thought, refusing to take anything for granted, to regard anything as final.
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Proximity to the crowd, to the majority view, spells the death of creativity. For a soul can create only when alone, and some are chosen for the flowering that takes place in the dark avenues of night.
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Instead of indulging in jealousy, greed, in relishing themselves, there are men who keep their hearts alert to the stillness in which time rolls on and leaves us behind.
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The problem to be faced is: how to combine loyalty to one’s own tradition with reverence for different traditions.
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The idea of dependence is an explanation, whereas self-sufficiency is an unprecedented, nonanalogous concept in terms of what we know about life within nature.
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The time for the kingdom may be far off, but the task is plain: to retain our share in God in spite of peril and contempt.
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Indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself. It is a silent justification affording evil acceptability in society.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL