Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes – Wisdom from a Jewish Philosopher and Theologian
Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living.
The meaning of life is to be fully alive, to live with all one’s powers.
Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.
To pray means to expand one’s soul.
Faith begins when a man stops living in the visible world.
The purpose of education is to enable us to live in a better society.
To speak of God without passion is to not speak of God at all.
In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.
A religious man is a person who holds God and men in one thought at one time, at all times.
Faith is not clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.
The opposite of good is not evil, but indifference.
The conscience is the voice of the soul, the passions are the voice of the body.
Awe is the beginning of wisdom.
The search for truth is in commitment to justice.
In every moment, something sacred about the human is at stake.
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul.
To be a Jew is to be awakened to the challenge of being the conscience of humanity.
Mankind will not perish for want of information, but only for want of appreciation.
The essence of life is to fight against aggression and all that diminishes the human spirit.
The test of a religion is not perfection, but its direction.
To be is to be involved.
Man must relate himself to existence with sensitivity and respect.
In every man there is a god, a hidden seed that needs to burst forth and burn.
To speak about God is to commit a speech act, not to make a statement.
God is not a hypothesis, but the force at the heart of all values.
We are called to give testimony to the sacred, to the compassionate, to the divine.
Prophets live with a sense of timelessness, with a concern for future generations.
Holiness is breaking down the barriers between oneself and others.
To live with integrity is to live in the light of God’s presence.
Religion at its best is an encounter with the ineffable.
The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade we do not expect to sit.
God is always calling; the question is how often do we answer the call.
The greatest miracle is to be alive.
Prayer is the bridge between time and eternity.
To pray is to dream in league with God.
The ultimate mystery is not God, but the human person.
True religion does not seek peace, but justice.
God has no religion, but is the source of all religion.
To be a prophet means to live with a broken heart, shattered by the suffering of the world.
Every act of kindness is a glimpse of God’s grace.
To be human is to be responsible for the world.
Hope is the seed of action.
The world is not an obstacle to God, but an opportunity.
The divine presence is revealed in the longing for justice and compassion.
To walk with God is to walk in awe of all creation.
Love is the ultimate expression of God’s presence in the world.
The greatest risk in life is not to take risks at all.
To be is to be in relationship, to be connected to others and to the divine.
One can never fully know God, but one can always strive to be known by God.
The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to be aware.