Quotes about Humanity

Man is not a beast of burden, and the Sabbath is not for the purpose of enhancing the efficiency of his work.

Who is a Jew? A person whose integrity decays when unmoved by the knowledge of wrong done to other people.

Only that which is good for all men is good for every man. No one is truly inspired for his own sake. He who is blessed, is a blessing for others.

The grand premise of religion is that man is able to surpass himself.

God's goodness is not a cosmic force but a specific act of compassion. We do not know it as it is but as it happens. To mention an example, "Rabbi Meir said: When a human being suffers what does the Shechinah say? My head is too heavy for Me; My arm is too heavy for Me. And if God is so grieved over the blood of the wicked that is shed, how much more so over the blood of the righteous.

But the meaning is to walk in the ways of the Lord. As He clothes the naked so do thou also clothe the naked; as He visited the sick, so do thou also visit the sick; as he comforted mourners, so do Thou also comfort mourners" (Sotah 14a).

He is in need of the work of man for the fulfillment of His ends in the world.

Yet our concern is not how to worship in the catacombs but rather how to remain human in the skyscrapers. NOTES 1 Portions of this section are based on Heschel, Man Is Not Alone (New York: Farrar, Straus, 1951).

We must constantly remember: we spoil and God restores. How ugly is the way in which we spoil, and how good and how beautiful is the way in which He restores.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he made so many of them.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain it.