Do not imagine that these most difficult problems can be thoroughly understood by any one of us.
MAIMONIDESDo not imagine that these most difficult problems can be thoroughly understood by any one of us.
MAIMONIDESThe soul is subject to health and disease, just as is the body. The health and disease of both, undoubtedly depend upon beliefs and customs, which are peculiar to mankind.
MAIMONIDESThe 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.
MAIMONIDESIf 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.
MAIMONIDESTeach thy tongue to say ‘I do not know,’ and thou shalt progress.
MAIMONIDESIt is man’s duty to love and to fear God, even without hope of reward or fear of punishment.
MAIMONIDESAstrology 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.
MAIMONIDESCommune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
MAIMONIDESIt 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.
MAIMONIDESIn 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.
MAIMONIDESIt is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.
MAIMONIDESGod cannot be compared to anything.
MAIMONIDESEven the existence of this corporeal element, low as it in reality is, because it is the source of death and all evils, is likewise good for the permanence of the Universe and the continuation of the order of things, so that one thing departs and the other succeeds.
MAIMONIDESDo not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen.
MAIMONIDESThe knowledge of God, the formation of ideas, the mastery of desire and passion, the distinction between that which is to be chosen and that which is to be rejected, all these man owes to his form.
MAIMONIDESThe second class of evils comprises such evils as people cause to each other, when, e.g. , some of them use their strength against others. These evils are more numerous than those of the first kind. They likewise originate in ourselves, though the sufferer himself cannot avert them.
MAIMONIDES