black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

In the beginning we must simplify the subject, thus unavoidably falsifying it, and later we must sophisticate away the falsely simple beginning.

Maimonides

It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the existence of man. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of anything else.
MAIMONIDES

Believe Existence Man Philosophy
All attributes ascribed to God are attributes of His acts, and do not imply that God has any qualities.
MAIMONIDES

Act God Himself Quality
Nobody is ever impoverished through the giving of charity.
MAIMONIDES

Charity Money Poor
Astrology is not an art, it is a disease.
MAIMONIDES

Art One Liner Sick
The key to the understanding and to the full comprehension of all that the Prophets have said is found in the knowledge of the figures, their general ideas, and the meaning of each word they contain.
MAIMONIDES

Knowledge Understand Word
God is identical with His attributes, so that it may be said that He is the knowledge, the knower, and the known.
MAIMONIDES

God Himself Knowledge Philosophy Religious
For that which is without a beginning, a final cause need not be sought.
MAIMONIDES

Beginning Need Philosophy
In so far as the soul is a force residing in the body; it has therefore been said that the properties of the soul depend of the condition of the body.
MAIMONIDES

Body Far Force Soul Spiritual
Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics.
MAIMONIDES

Education Himself Human Logic Mathematics Perfection
Silence is the maturation of wisdom.
MAIMONIDES

One Liner Silence Wisdom
Contrast the experience with something worse and you cannot help feeling happy and grateful because. The change from trouble to comfort gives us more pleasure than uninterrupted comfort does.
MAIMONIDES

Change Comfortable Experience Feeling Gratitude Happiness Help Worst
For it is said, You shall strengthen the stranger and the dweller in your midst and live with him, that is to say, strengthen him until he needs no longer fall upon the mercy of the community or be in need.
MAIMONIDES

Community Fall Live Need Strength Yourself
Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.
MAIMONIDES

Philosophy Truth Virtue World
I will destroy my enemies by converting them to friends.
MAIMONIDES

Destroy Enemy Friendship Myself
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be his name, is not a body, and that he is free from all accidents of matter, and that he has not any form whatsoever.
MAIMONIDES

Believe Blessing Faith Myself Perfection
Astrology is a disease, not a science. It is a tree under the shadow of which all sorts of superstitions thrive. Only fools and charlatans lend value to it.
MAIMONIDES

Disease Fools Science Sick Tree Value
Let nothing which can be treated by diet be treated by other means.
MAIMONIDES

Doctor Food
God cannot be compared to anything.
MAIMONIDES

God One Liner
Every man should view himself as equally balanced: half good and half evil. Likewise, he should see the entire world as half good and half evil. With a single good deed he will tip the scales for himself, and for the entire world, to the side of good.
MAIMONIDES

Equality Evil Goodness Man Philosophy See View World
One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good – he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad – he and the world is destroyed.
MAIMONIDES

Destroy Equality Evil Goodness Himself Oneself World
Everyone entrusted with a mission is an angel.
MAIMONIDES

Angel Mission Trust
In the realm of Nature there is nothing purposeless, trivial, or unnecessary.
MAIMONIDES

Nature Necessary Purpose
The fact that laws were given to man, both affirmative and negative, supports the principle, that God’s knowledge of future events does not change their character. The great doubt that presents itself to our mind is the result of the insufficiency of our intellect.
MAIMONIDES

Change Character Doubt God Intellectual Knowledge Law Man Mindset Ourselves Present Principle Result Support
The great sickness and the grievous evil consist in this: that all the things that man finds written in books, he presumes to think of as true-and all the more so if the books are old.
MAIMONIDES

Book Evil Greatness Grief Man Old Sick Thinking True Writing
If a person studies too much and exhausts his reflective powers, he will be confused, and will not be able to apprehend even that which had been within the power of his apprehension. For the powers of the body are all alike in this respect.
MAIMONIDES

Body Himself Person Power Reflection Respect
Actions are divided as regards their object into four classes; they are either purposeless, unimportant, or vain, or good.
MAIMONIDES

Action Goodness Important Purpose
The same is the case with those opinions of man to which he has been accustomed from his youth; he likes them, defends them, and shuns the opposite views.
MAIMONIDES

Himself Man View Youth

In the beginning we must simplify the subject, thus unavoidably falsifying it, and later we must sophisticate away the falsely simple beginning.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

In the beginning we must simplify the subject, thus unavoidably falsifying it, and later we must sophisticate away the falsely simple beginning.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Maimonides Quotes