Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes, born January 11, 1907, in Warsaw, Poland, and passing on December 23, 1972, in New York City, was a Polish-born American rabbi, philosopher, and one of the 20th century’s leading Jewish theologians. Escaping the Holocaust in 1939, he taught at Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Theological Seminary, authoring influential books like The Sabbath (1951), God in Search of Man (1955), and The Prophets (1962). A civil rights activist, he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965, famously saying his “legs were praying.” His philosophy of “radical amazement” and moral urgency reshaped Jewish thought.
These 15 quotes—sourced from his books, speeches, interviews, and posts on X—reflect his insights on wonder, compassion, justice, and spirituality, capturing his call to live with awe and responsibility.
15 Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
- “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.” (God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, 1955)
- “Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.” (Who Is Man?, 1965)
- “…Morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.” (Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion, 1951)
- “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.” (God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, 1955)
- “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.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man—the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “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.” (I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology, 1983)
- “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time.” (The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, 1951)
- “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” (Post on X, @jposhaughnessy, 2023-06-25)
- “We are closer to God when we are asking questions than when we think we have the answers.” (I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology, 1983)
- “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.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” (Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion, 1951)
- “The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments.” (The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, 1951)
- “Man is a messenger who forgot the message.” (The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story, 2008)
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s quotes are a soulful blend of awe, compassion, and a fierce call to live with purpose, inspiring thinkers, activists, and dreamers to embrace wonder and fight for justice. His words challenge us to see the divine in every moment and act with moral courage. Which one stirs your heart to live more fully? Drop it in the comments and keep Heschel’s legacy of radical amazement alive!
Emma Thompson
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