It is of the essence of virtue that the good is not to be done for the sake of a reward.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHELSociety today is no longer in revolt against particular laws which it finds alien, unjust, and imposed, but against law as such, against the principle of law.
More Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
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I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder.
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Being points beyond itself. Accustomed to think in terms of space, the expression “being points beyond itself” may be taken to denote a higher point in space.
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We forfeit the right to worship God as long as we continue to humiliate negroes. … The hour calls for moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.
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Those of faith who plant sacred thoughts in the uplands of time, the secret gardeners of the Lord in mankind’s desolate hopes, may slacken and tarry but rarely betray their vocation.
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The anchor of meaning resides in an abyss, deeper than the reach of despair.
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Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.
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The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God. One cannot pray unless he has faith in his own ability to accost the infinite, merciful, eternal God.
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Life without commitment is not worth living.
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Normal consciousness is a state of stupor, in which the sensibility to the wholly real and responsiveness to the stimuli of the spirit are reduced.
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Things, when magnified, are forgeries of happiness.
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There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.
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The degree to which one is sensitive to other people’s suffering, to other (people’s) humanity, is the index of one’s own humanity
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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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The riches of the soul are stored up in its memory. this is the test of character, not whether a man follows the daily fashion, but whether the past is alive in his present.
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Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL