|
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? - Rabbi Hillel
a
If you gather not in youth, how will you find in old age? - Apocrypha: Ben Sira 25:3
When I was young I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people. - Abraham Joshua Heschel
Anger deprives a sage of his wisdom, a prophet of his vision. - Simeon b. Lakish, Talmud: Pesahim 66b
One may do something advantageous for a person in his absence. - Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 11a
When you are annoyed by something you could not avoid, don't aggravate it by useless worry. - Mendel Lefin, Heshbon HaNefesh
b
Don't let your brain interfere with your heart. - Albert Einstein
Beware of a pious fool, and of a wise sinner. - Ibn Gabirol, "Mibhar HaPeninim"
Every blade of grass has an angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow! Grow!" - The Talmud
When you see handsome people or fine trees, pronounce the benediction: Praised be He who created beautiful things. - Tosefta: Berakot
With blessings of light, of hope, of peace, of spirit--we bring not might, not power, but the Breath of Life. - Rabbi Arthur Waskow
c
Concentrate on three things and you will not fall into the grip of sin. Know from where you came, where you are going, and before Whom you will have to give account and reckoning. - Pirkei Avot 3:1
Contemplate the wonders of creation, the Divine dimension of their being, not as a dim configuration that is presented to you from a distance, but as the reality in which you live. - Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
Criticism has few terrors for a man with a great purpose. - Benjamin Disraeli, "Life of Lord George Bentinck"
Man's creed is that he believes in God, and therefore in mankind, but not that he believes in a creed. - Baeck, "Essence of Judaism"
When the community is in trouble, a person should not say, "I will go to my house and I will eat and drink and be at peace with myself." -Babylonian Talmud, Ta'anit 11a
One pang of conscience is worth more than many lashes. - Jose b. Halafta, Talmud: Berakhot, 7a
The Second Temple was destroyed because of causeless hatred. Perhaps the Third will be rebuilt because of causeless love. - Rav Abraham Isaac Kook
d
Demons bother only those who bother them. - Sefer Hasidim
Man's good deeds are single acts in the long drama of redemption. - Abraham Joshua Heschel, "The Earth Is the Lord's"
The mind of each is different from that of the other, just as the face of each is different from that of the other. - Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 58a
Get into the habit of dancing. It will displace depression and dispel hardship. - Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
e
We do not rejoice at the punishment meted out to an enemy; we have been taught by the holy laws to have human sympathy. - Philo, "Flaccus"
We cannot learn from general principles: there may be exceptions. - Johanan, Talmud: Kiddushin
Pray for an enemy as for yourself. - Baal Shem Tov
f
Before you can find God, you must lose yourself. - Baal Shem
Each night, before retiring, forgive whomever offended you. - Asher b. Yehiel, "Hanhaga"
My friend is he who will tell me my fault in private. - Ibn Gabirol, Mibhar HaPeninim
Through faith man experiences the meaning of the world; through action he is to give to it a meaning. - Leo Baeck, "Essence of Judaism"
To pull a friend from the mud, don’t hesitate to get dirty. - Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Ba'al Shem Tov
Who finds a faithful friend finds a treasure. - Ben Sira 6:14
g
Gossip kills three: the speaker, the spoken of, and the listener. - Rabbi Samuel b. Nahman, Numbers Rabbah
Greet every person with a pleasant face…Receive every person in a cheerful manner. - Pirke Avot 1:15; 3:16
He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice, to love goodness, and to walk modestly with your God. - Micah 6:8
He is great who is not ashamed to admit he does not know. - Judah HaNasi, Talmud Jerushalmi: Hagiga
If I knew God, I would be God. - Medieval Jewish proverb
The ultimate result of your knowledge of God should be the conviction that of His real essence you are completely ignorant. - Bahya, "Hovot HaLevavot"
In a war of self-defense [literally, an obligatory war] all go out to do battle, even a groom from his room, and the bride from under the wedding canopy. - Mishna, Sotah 8:7
The God of the Hebraic religion is either a living, active, "feeling" God or he is nothing. - Herberg, "Judaism and Modern Man"
Thou hast created me not from necessity but from grace. - Ibn Gabirol
Three things restore a person's good spirits: beautiful sounds, sights, and smells. - Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 57b
h
Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes. - Benjamin Disraeli
A heavenly voice proves nothing. The law of Sinai commands us to "decide according to the majority." - Joshua b. Nanania, Talmud: Bab Metzia 59b
If you must hate, if hatred is the leaven of your life, which alone can give flavor, then hate what should be hated: falsehood, violence, selfishness. - Boerne, "Der ewige Jude"
It is the same whether a man offers much or little, provided his heart is directed to Heaven. - Mishna: Menahot
It should not be believed that all the beings exist for the sake of the existence of humanity. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes, and not for the sake of something else. - Maimonides
What is in your heart about your fellow man is most likely in his heart about you. - Book of Deuteronomy
A man must always be exceedingly careful to show honor to his wife. - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Mezia, 59a
While Judaism in its entirety is for the Jew, its creed and its ethics are for [humanity]. - Morris Joseph, "Judaism as Creed and Life"
i
It is integrity that invests man with immortality, and bestows upon him the privilege of direct communion with God. - Bahya b. Asher, Kad HaKemah
An individual is a person, when and because he knows himself as such; a group is a people, when and because it knows itself as such. - Mordechai Kaplan, "Future of the American Jew," 1948
First improve yourself, then improve others. - Babylonian Talmud
False ideals cannot be shattered by criticism. Right ideals must take up the battle against them. - Franz Werfel, "Between Heaven and Earth"
Rather suffer an injustice than commit one. - Yiddish proverb
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. - Elie Wiesel
Who is ignorant? He who does not educate his children. - Jonathan b. Joseph, Talmud: Sota, 22a
To please all is an impossible aim, and to escape some criticism is an unattainable goal. - M. Ibn Ezra, "Shirat Yisrael"
j
Judaism enjoins 613 duties, but knows no dogmas. - S.R. Hirsch, Nineteen Letters
In the din and tumult of the age, the still small voice of Jerusalem remains our only music. - Israel Zangwill, 1921
There is a definite connection between being funny and being Jewish. The toughest room I ever played was my mother's kitchen. - Richard Belzer
Who lives in joy does his Creator's will. - Baal Shem Tov
k
We should study; Judaism has always insisted that knowledge has the power not only to make people smart but to make them good . . . - Rabbi Harold Kushner
The ultimate result of your knowledge of God should be the conviction that of His real essence you are completely ignorant. - Bahya, "Hovot HaLevavot"
l
He who, for the sake of learning, lowers himself by exposing his ignorance, will ultimately be elevated. - Ben Azzai, Talmud: Berakot, 63b
Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives. - Viktor Frankl
I have only one life, and it is short enough. Why waste it on the things I don't want most? - Justice Louis Brandeis
The road through life is like the edge of a blade, with the netherworld on either side. - Moshe Leib of Sasov
Weep before God--laugh before people. - Yiddish proverb
We call [the holiday] the Festival of Lights, giving this name to it, I think, from the fact that the right to worship appeared to us [like a flash of light] at a time when we hardly dared hope for it. - Josephus, Jewish Antiquities
m
A miracle cannot prove what is impossible; it is useful only to confirm what is possible. - Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed
Man is by nature a mystic. - Rav Kook, "HaMahshaba HaYisraelit"
Man was made mortal, because the Holy One foresaw that some . . . would proclaim themselves gods. - Hama b. Hanina, Genesis Rabbah
Very minor sins have led to great catastrophes, and for very minor good deeds, some met with enormous rewards. - Seder Eliyahu Rabbah
A man is what he is, not what he used to be. - Yiddish proverb
A miracle cannot prove what is impossible; it is useful only to confirm what is possible. - Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed
A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair. - Abraham Joshua Heschel
The test of good manners: to bear patiently with bad ones. - Ibn Gabirol
n
To smile at your neighbor is more important than to treat him to a drink. - Johanan b. Nappaha, Talmud: Ketubot
o
p
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 Pleasures are manifestations of God's love. - The Baal Shem Tov
Each penitent thought is a voice of God. - Baal Shem Tov
No physician can cure a prejudice, which is a blindness in the mind. - Jewish folk saying
Include friend and foe in your petitions, for how can one ask God for blessings which he does not want others to have? - Orhot Tzaddikim, medieval ethical text
As soon as father Abraham conceives of Judaism, the process of "Go forth" begins. - Mendele, "Di Alte Maase"
Every thought of God is prayer. Holy, true and honest purposes are prayer. Earnest thought, search without vanity is prayer. - Rahel Levin Varnhagen, letter to Count Custine, 1817
In prayer we open the gates...of our larger self . . . God comes in to us and claims his own. - Jacob Weinstein, "Gentle Rain," 1953
Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. - Baruch Spinoza
People say: If you cannot pass, you must return. We say: If you cannot pass, you must pass. - Israel Salanter Lipkin
Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear of it, people would swallow each other alive. - Pirkei Avot 3:2
Prepare for the time when the possible will become the probable. - L. Stein, "Journey into the Self"
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
q
r
Who is rich? One who is happy with what he has. - Ethics of the Fathers 4:1
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, 6:3
Remember the virtues you lack and the faults you have; forget the good you did and the wrong you received. - Orhot Tzaddikim
Shammai said: Receive all people cheerfully. - Ethics of the Fathers 1:15
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
Whoever lives a godly life may become, not alone his own redeemer, but also in some degree the redeemer of the world. - Hyman Enelow, Selected Works, 1935
Whoever reports a saying in the name of its originator brings the world toward redemption. - Ethics of the Fathers 6:6
s
Say little but do much. - Pirkei Avot 1:15
Scripture likens the Torah to the desert, to fire, and to water, for like these three, it is free to all. - Mekilta
Seek the good in everyone, and reveal it, bring it forth. - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1811), "Likutey Moharan"
Only then is a man's service of God sincere when he wants no publicity for it. - Nahman of Bratzlav, "Sefer HaMiddot"
The Seder nights...tie me with the centuries before me. - Ludwig Frank, Reprinted from 'A Diary by Anne Frank'
There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win. - Elie Wiesel
That which you see and hear, you cannot help; but that which you say depends on you alone. - Zohar
What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth. - Jewish proverb
A small act done modestly is a thousand-fold more acceptable to God than a big act done in pride. - Orhot Tzaddikim, 15C
Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time. . . . The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals. - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, "The Sabbath: It's Meaning for Modern Man"
This is what the Holy One said to Israel: My children, what do I seek from you? I seek no more than that you love one another and honor one another. - Tanna d'Bai Eliyahu, medieval rabbinic work
We cannot achieve self-respect if we are afraid of self-knowledge. - M.R. Cohen, "A Dreamer's Journey"
Your son is at five your master, at ten your servant, at fifteen your double, and after that, your friend or foe, depending on his bringing up. - Hasdai ibn Crescas
t
Be not like those who honor their gods in prosperity and curse them in adversity. In pleasure or pain, give thanks! - Rabbi Akiba, Mekilta, to Exodus 20.20
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
The purpose of the laws of the Torah...is to bring mercy, loving-kindness and peace upon the world. - Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, "Laws of the Sabbath," 2:3
If a Jew breaks a leg, he thanks God he did not break both legs; if he breaks both, he thanks God he did not break his neck. - Yiddish proverb
Teach your tongue to say, "I do not know," lest you be led to lie. - Babylonian Talmud, "Berakhot 4a"
Revere your teacher as you revere Heaven. - Eleazar b. Shammua, Mishna: Abot
u-v
If any man was wronged by another and he neither rebukes, nor hates, nor bears a grudge against him, but forgives him with his whole heart, this is a saintly virtue . . . - Code of Jewish Law
Vision looks inward and becomes duty. Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration. Vision looks upward and becomes faith. - Rabbi Stephen S. Wise
When a thief has nothing to steal, he regards his "virtue" as real. - Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 22a
Why was only a single [human] created first? That virtue and vice may not be claimed as hereditary. - Tosefta: Sandhedrin 8:4
w
In seeking wisdom the first step is silence, the second: listening, the third: remembering, the fourth: practicing, the fifth: teaching others. - Solomon Ibn Gabirol
The wise man questions the wisdom of others because he questions his own, the foolish man, because it is different from his own. - Leo Stein
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
Wisdom, properly used, is a remedy for every ill; but when misdirected, becomes an incurable disease. - Bahya, Hobot HaLebabot
Wonder, rather than doubt, is the root of knowledge. - Heschel, "Man Is Not Alone"
Words are the guides to acts; the mouth makes the first move. - Rabbi Leon da Modena, 17th cen., Venice
Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear of it, people would swallow each other alive. - Pirkei Avot 3:2
Wisdom is the ability to do good and to abandon sin. - Gerondi, "Shaare Teshuba"
Wise men think out their thoughts; fools proclaim them. - Heine, "Gendanken und Einfalle"
x
y
z
|
