Abraham J. Heschel Quotes
Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.
Abraham J. Heschel (Quoted in To Grow In Wisdom, 1990)
Man is a messenger who forgot the message.
Abraham J. Heschel (Who Is Man?, 1965)
Life without commitment is not worth living.
Abraham J. Heschel
Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.
Abraham J. Heschel
God is either of no importance, or of supreme importance.
Abraham J. Heschel
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
Abraham J. Heschel
Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed.
Abraham J. Heschel
The course of life is unpredictable. No one can write his autobiography in advance.
Abraham J. Heschel (Who Is Man?, 1965)
A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.
Abraham J. Heschel (Quoted in To Grow In Wisdom, 1990)
All it takes is one person… and another… and another… and another… to start a movement.
Abraham J. Heschel
Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.
Abraham J. Heschel
Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.
Abraham J. Heschel
The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments.
Abraham J. Heschel (Quoted in To Grow In Wisdom, 1990)
In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.
Abraham J. Heschel
It is not enough for me to ask question; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face: What am I here for?
Abraham J. Heschel (Who Is Man?, 1965)