One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all the life in the world to come.
--Rabbi Jacob b. Kurshai, Mishna: Abot
Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.
God is identical with His attributes, so that it may be said that He is the knowledge, the knower, and the known.
--Maimonides, "Eight Chapters"
Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.
When you cannot love or hate any more, then where is the charm of life?
--Arthur Schnitzler, "Professor Bernhardi"
Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.
When you cannot love or hate any more, then where is the charm of life?
--Arthur Schnitzler, "Professor Bernhardi"
Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.
The sun gives light by day, the Torah by day and night.
--Asher b. Saul, Kol Bo
Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc.
When you cannot love or hate any more, then where is the charm of life?--Arthur Schnitzler, "Professor Bernhardi"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Death was decreed for all, so that men may not be righteous just for the sake of life.--Jonathan ben Eleazar, Jewish scholar of the third century, PalestineReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson...
One pang of conscience is worth more than many lashes.--Jose b. Halafta, Talmud: Berakhot, 7aReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Man's advocates are repentance and good deeds.--Talmud: Sabbath, 32aReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just.--Proverbs 2:20As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old: You shall fear your God.--Leviticus 19:32As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
Judge not your neighbor till you've been in his place.Hillel, Mishna: AbotReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
It is the lot of man to suffer, it is also his fortune to forget.--Benjamin Disraeli, "Vivian Grey"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
When the rabbis speak of paradise and hell...these are only metaphors for the agony of sin and the happiness of virtue.--Kaufmann Kohler, "Jewish Theology"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
He is great who is not ashamed to admit he does not know.--Judah HaNasi, Talmud Jerushalmi: HagigaReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
If I knew God, I would be God.--Midieval Jewish proverb...
Rather suffer an injustice than commit one.--Yiddish proverb...
Do not steal, do not deceive, and do not lie to one another.Leviticus 19:11As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
Perhaps a human being does not die until he no longer sees anything but the past and the present moment.Leo Baeck, "The Pharisees"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
A Jew can be Jewish with God, against God, but not without God.Elie WieselAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
A man is led the way he wishes to follow.--Huna, Talmud: Makkot, 10bReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
A good man does not sell his beast to a cruel person.--Medieval Sefer HasidimAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
The first step toward liberty is to miss liberty; the second, to seek it; the third, to find it.--Leopold Zunz, German-Jewish scholarReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Regard as trifling the great good you did to others, and as enormous the little good others did to you.--Talmud: Derech Eretz (Way of the Land)Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
His revelation is continuous. New aspects of the Torah unfold constantly. The more we study it, the more it expands.--Judah Arieh, "Sefat Emet"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Prompted by love is greater than prompted by fear.--Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar, TalmudReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
The test of good manners: to bear patiently with bad ones.--Ibn GabirolReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
He who repeats what he has learned one hundred times cannot be compared to one who repeats it a hundred and one times.--Babylonian Talmud, Hagigah 9bAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
Always think of the end, and you will never do amiss.Apocrypha: Ben Sira 7:36Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Even if all the world tells you. "You are righteous," consider yourself a sinner.--Rabbi SimlaiReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
The acts of the leader are the acts of the nation. If the leader is just, the nation is just; if he is unjust, the nation too is unjust and is punished for the sins of the leader.--The Zohar...
Learning must be sought; it will not come of itself.--Simeon b. Lakish, Midrash MishleReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.' edited by Joseph L. Baron. Jason Aronson Inc....
One may do something advantageous for a person in his absence.--Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 11aAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
We can judge a man faithful or unfaithful only by his works.--Baruch Spinoza, "Theologico-Political Treatise"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Show respect for an old man who has forgotten his learning through no fault of his own, for we have learned that the fragments of the old tablets were kept alongside the new tablets in the Ark of the Covenant.--Babylonian...
No tongue speaks as much ill of us as our own.--Sholom Aleichem, "Olom Habo"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Every house a temple, every heart an altar, every human being a priest.--Moritz Lazarus, German philosopher and psychologist (1824-1903)...
A small act done modestly is a thousand-fold more acceptable to God than a big act done in pride.--Orhot Tzaddikim, 15CReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
All beginnings require that you unlock a new door.--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov...
I have no particular taste for post-mortem immortality. I am immortal now, while I am gloriously alive.--Rabbi Joel Blau, "My Uncertain God," 1924...
Scripture likens the Torah to the desert, to fire, and to water, for like these three, it is free to all.--MekiltaReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.' edited by Joseph L. Baron. Jason Aronson Inc....
All souls stood at Sinai, each accepting its share in Torah.--Rabbi Moses ben Hayyim AlshekhReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.' edited by Joseph L. Baron. Jason Aronson Inc....
Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will instruct you....
Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will instruct you.Deuteronomy 32:7As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
When man completes a product, his relation to it ends; but God's power continues to permeate His creatures.--Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, "Tanya"Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
The souls that were yet to be created were there... So did the sages of all generations receive their wisom from Sinai.--Isaac, Exodus RabbahReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Shame is an iron fence against sin.--Orchot TzaddikimReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.' edited by Joseph L. Baron. Jason Aronson Inc....
A person is prohibited to eat until he first feeds his animals.--Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 40aAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
To have no occasion for lying does not yet mean to be honest.--Arthur Schnitzler (Austrian playwright, 1862-1931)Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
"Enough!" said Israel. "My son Joseph is still alive! I must go and see him before I die." So Israel set out with all that was his, and he came to Beer-sheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of...
If you sanctify yourself a little, you are sanctified much.--Talmud: Yoma, 39aReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
One may not rely on a miracle.Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 64bReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Remember the virtues you lack and the faults you have; forget the good you did and the wrong you received.--Orhot TzaddikimReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
One should conquer the world, not to enthrone a man, but an idea, for ideas exist forever.--Benjamin Disraeli, 1847Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
Who lives in joy does his Creator's will.--Baal Shem TovReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
The community of the living is the carriage of the Lord.--Hasidic proverb...
Thou hast created me not from necessity but from grace.--Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Spanish-Jewish philosopher and poet c.1021-1058Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
The highest peace is the peace between opposites.--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov...
On Purim one should drink till he cannot tell the difference between "Cursed be Haman" and "Blessed be Mordecai."--Raba, Talmud: Megilla, 7bReprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
The world is new to us every morning--this is the Holy One's gift and every person should believe he is reborn each day.--Baal Shem Tov...
There is no reward for following the commandments in this world.--Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 39bAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
Who finds a faithful friend finds a treasure.--Ben Sira 6:14...
You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor nor show deference to the rich; judge your kinsmen fairly.--Leviticus 19:15As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
People were given two ears and one tongue so that they may listen more than speak.--Jewish folk saying...
A man must always be exceedingly careful to show honor to his wife.--Babylonian TalmudAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.--Jewish proverb...
Love blinds us to faults, hatred to virtues.--Moshe ibn Ezra, "Shirat Yisrael"As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
One who learns from his companion a single chapter, a single law, a single verse, a single expression, or even a single letter, should accord him respect.--Ethics of the Fathers, 6:3As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
A man is what he is, not what he used to be.--Yiddish proverb...
What is in your heart about your fellow man is most likely in his heart about you.--Book of DeuteronomyAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.--Song of Songs...
Is there any institution that holds out a greater hope for man's progress than the Sabbath?--Abraham Joshua Heschel, "The Sabbath"...
Woe to him who is alone and falls with no companion to raise him.--Ecclesiastes 4:10As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
The whole world is a very narrow bridge. And the most important thing is to not be afraid.--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov...
Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world.--The Talmud, Mishna, Sanhedrin 37a...
The spiritual perfection of man consists in his becoming an intelligent being--one who knows all that he is capable of learning.--Maimonides...
Give of yourself...you can always give something, even if it is only kindness.--Anne Frank...
While praying, listen to the words very carefully. When your heart is attentive, your entire being enters your prayer without your having to force it.--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov...
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat.--Proverbs 25:21...
Religion is not, at the outset, a refuge of grace and mercy for the despondent and desperate, an enchanted stream for crushed spirits, but a raging, clamorous torrent of man's consciousness, with all its crises, pangs, and torments....
Rabbi Judah says: Whoever does not teach his son a trade or profession teaches him to be a thief.--Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 29aAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
A man should love his wife as himself and honor her more than himself.--Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 62bAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
If I try to be like him, who will be like me?--Yiddish Proverb...
The pure righteous people do not complain against wickedness but add righteousness. They do not complain against disbelief but add faith. They do not complain against ignorance but add wisdom.--Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook...
There is no true justice unless mercy is part of it.--The Zohar...
I have only one life, and it is short enough. Why waste it on the things I don't want most?--Justice Louis BrandeisAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
A man cannot say to the Angel of Death, "Wait till I make up my accounts."--Ecclesiastes Rabbah 8As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.--Yiddish proverb...
The Second Temple was destroyed because of causeless hatred. Perhaps the Third will be rebuilt because of causeless love.--Rav Abraham Isaac KookAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
A person should make ladders for himself by which he can sometimes go up to heaven.--Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapiro...
The best security for old age: respect your children.--Sholem AschAs cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
He who saves a single life saves the entire world.--The TalmudFrom "A Little Joy, A Little Oy." Reprinted by arrangement with Andrews McMeel Publishing....
The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence; these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my lucky stars I belong to it.--Albert Einstein--As...
Be strong-willed and stubborn if you want to get closer to God. How else will you survive all the difficulties that are sure to come your way?--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov...
Who is rich? One who is happy with what he has.--Ethics of the Fathers 4:1As cited in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin....
Human fallibility being what it is, victory and truth do not always go together. Therefore, if you have to always win, you can't always be true.--Rebbe Nachman of Breslov...
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.--Rabbi Harold Kushner, "When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough," paraphrasing Rabbi Mordechai KaplanAs...
The virtue of angels is that they cannot deteriorate; their flaw is that they cannot improve. Humanity's flaw is that we can deteriorate; but our virtue is that we can improve.--Hasidic saying...
For the sake of one true penitent, the whole world is pardoned. --Rabbi Meir, Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 86b Reprinted from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations,' edited by Joseph L. Baron, Jason Aronson Inc....
For I desire kindness, not sacrifice. --Hosea 6:6, speaking in the name of God...
Fit yourself to learn Torah; it does not come by inheritance. --Jose HaCohen, Mishna: Abot...
"It is integrity that invests man with immortality. and bestows upon him the privilege of direct communion with God." --Bahya b. Asher. Kad HaKemah Reprinted with permission from 'A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.' edited by Joseph L. Baron. Jason Aronson...
First improve yourself, then improve others. Babylonian Talmud...
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian. --Rabbi Harold Kushner, "When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough," paraphrasing Rabbi Mordechai...
God is closest to those with broken hearts. --Jewish proverb...
I must uphold my ideals. for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out. --Anne Frank...
Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.--Victor Frankl...