In the story of the Creation we read: ". . . And behold, it was very good." But, in the passage where Moses reproves Israel, the verse says: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil." Where did the evil come from? Evil too is good. It is the lowest rung of perfect goodness. If you do good deeds, even evil will become good; but if you sin, evil will really become evil.
Martin BuberI have to tell it again and again: I have no doctrine. I only point out something. I point out reality, I point out something in reality which has not or too little been seen. I take him who listens to me at his hand and lead him to the window. I push open the window and point outside. I have no doctrine, I carry on a dialogue.
Martin BuberThe salvation of man does not lie in his holding himself far removed from the worldly, but in consecrating it to holy, to divine meaning.
Martin BuberMan wishes to be confirmed in his being by man, and wishes to have a presence in the being of the otherโฆ. Secretly and bashfully he watches for a YES which allows him to be and which can come to him only from one human person to another.
Martin BuberReligion means goal and way, politics implies end and means. The political end is recognizable by the fact that it may be attained--in success--and its attainment is historically recorded. The religious goal remains, even in man's highest experiences, that which simply provides direction on the mortal way; it never enters into historical consummation.
Martin Buber