The true meaning of existence is disclosed in moments of living in the presence of God

In prayer we shift the center of living from self-consciousness to self-surrender

Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.

Solitude is a necessary protest to the incursions and the false alarms of society's hysteria, a period of cure and recovery.

The course of life is unpredictable no one can write his autobiography in advance.

People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state--it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle.... Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions. Source: The Wisdom of Heschel

Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart. Audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming the heart, usurping the mind--these are all a drive towards serving Him who rings our hearts like a bell. It is as if He were waiting to enter our empty, perishing lives.