In the midst of our applauding the feats of civilization, the Bible flings itself like a knife slashing our complacency; remind us that God, too, has a voice in history.
Abraham Joshua HeschelThe degree to which one is sensitive to other people's suffering, to other (people's) humanity, is the index of one's own humanity
Abraham Joshua HeschelThe problem to be faced is: how to combine loyalty to one's own tradition with reverence for different traditions.
Abraham Joshua HeschelIn any free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty - all are responsible.
Abraham Joshua HeschelOne of the major symptoms of the general crisis existent in our world today is our lack of sensitivity to words. We use words as tools. We forget that words are a repository of the spirit. The tragedy of our times is that the vessels of the spirit are broken. We cannot approach the spirit unless we repair the vessels. Reverence for words - an awareness of the wonder of words, of the mystery of words - is an essential prerequisite for prayer. By the word of God the world was created.
Abraham Joshua Heschel