As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind. Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation.
Ultimately there is no power to narcissistic, self-indulgent thinking. Authentic thinking originates with an encounter with the world.
God is everywhere or nowhere, the father of all people or of none, concerned about everything or nothing. Only in His presence shall we learn that the glory of humankind is not in its will to power but in its power of compassion.
It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.
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.
Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.
There is no specialized art of prayer. All of life must be a training to pray. We pray the way we live.
Spiritual life begins to decay when we fail to sense the grandeur of what is eternal in time.
The tragedy of religion is partly due to its isolation from life, as if God could be segregated.
Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.
Few are guilty, but all are responsible.
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.
When I marched with Martin Luther King in Selma, I felt my legs were praying.
We can all do our share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and all frustrations and all disappointments.
There is happiness in the love of labor, there is misery in the love of gain.
Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.
I have one talent, and that is the capacity to be tremendously surprised, surprised at life, at ideas. This is to me the supreme Hasidic imperative: Don’t be old. Don’t be stale.
The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living.
Our concern is not how to worship in the catacombs but how to remain human in the skyscrapers.
Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.