248 Quotes by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Wonder or radical amazement is the chief characteristic of the religious man’s attitude toward history and nature.

God does not reveal Himself; he only reveals His way. Judaism does not speak of God’s self-revelation, but of the revelation of His teaching for man. The Bible reflects God’s revelation of His relation to history, rather than of a revelation of His very Self. Even His will or His wisdom is not completely expressed through the prophets. Prophecy is superior to human wisdom, and God’s love is superior to prophecy. This spiritual hierarchy is explicitly stated by the Rabbis.

Happy is he who is aware of the mysteries of his Lord.

A prophet’s true greatness is his ability to hold God and man in a single thought.

In any free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty – all are responsible.

Being points beyond itself. Accustomed to think in terms of space, the expression “being points beyond itself” may be taken to denote a higher point in space. What is meant, however, is a higher category than being: the power of maintaining being.

The man who has not suffered – what does he know anyway?

The grand premise of religion is that man is able to surpass himself; that man who is part of this world may.

Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion – its message becomes meaningless.