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.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHELTo become aware of the ineffable is to part company with words.
More Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
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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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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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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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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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There are few ideas in the world of thought which contain so much spiritual power as the idea of the Sabbath.
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Awe is a sense for transcendence, for the reference everywhere to mystery beyond all things. It enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine.
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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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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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In the darkest night to be certain of the dawn…to go through Hell and to continue to trust in the goodness of God-this is the challenge and the way.
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We can never sneer at the stars, mock the dawn, or scoff at the totality of being.
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There are two primary ways in which mans relates himself to the world that surround him: manipulation and appreciation .
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Knowledge-like the sky- is never private property. No teacher has a right to withhold it from anyone who asks for it. Teaching is the art of sharing.
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Things, when magnified, are forgeries of happiness.
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The supremacy of expediency is being refuted by time and truth.
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As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL