Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes

People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained.

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time.

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.

To be spiritual is to be amazed.

The hour calls for moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.

I am still so surprised! That is why I am against it. We must learn to be surprised.

The essence of man is not what he is, but in what he is able to be.

There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.

Understanding God is not attained by calling into session all arguments for and against Him, in order to debate whether He is a reality or a figment of the mind.

Morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.