Man is like a tree. If you stand in front of a tree and watch it incessantly, to see how it grows, and to see how much it has grown, you will see nothing at all. But tend it at all times, prune the runners and keep it free of beetles and worms, and all in good time-it will come into its growth. It is the same with man: all that is necessary is for him to overcome his obstacles, and he will thrive and grow. But it is not right to examine him hour after hour to see how much has already been added to his stature.

Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said "In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses?' They will ask me: 'Why were you not Zusya?

The atheist staring from his attic window is often nearer to God than the believer caught up in his own false image of God.

Love is responsibility of an I for a You: in this consists what cannot consist in any feeling - the equality of all lovers.

Power abdicates only under the stress of counter-power.

The beating heart of the universe is holy joy.

And if there were a devil it would not be one who decided against God, but one who, in eternity, came to no decision.