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Maimonides QUOTES

Maimonides QUOTES

1 " Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it. "

― Maimonides , The Guide for the Perplexed

2 " You must accept the truth from whatever source it comes. "

― Maimonides

3 " For the elements have the property of moving back to their place in a straight line, but they have no properties which would cause them to remain where they are, or to move other-wise than in a straight line, These rectilinear motions of these four elements when returning to their original place are are of two kinds, either centrifugal,vziz.>the motion of the air and the fire; or centripedal,viz.> the motion of the earth, and the water; and when the elements have reached their original place, they remain at rest. "

― Maimonides

4 " You should recognize that man’s soul, this single entity whose powers and parts we have described, may be compared to matter, and that the power of reasoning is its completed form. As long as the soul lies dormant and does not acquire its form from knowledge, then the nature of the soul is useless and exists in vain. "

― Maimonides , Rambam: Shemonah Perakim, The Eight Chapters; Maimonides' Introduction to Ethics of the Fathers; Perek Chelek; Discourse on the World to Come

5 " Your purpose...should always be to know...the whole that was intended to be known. "

― Maimonides , The Guide for the Perplexed

6 " The person who wishes to attain human perfection should study logic first, next mathematics, then physics, and, lastly, metaphysics. "

― Maimonides , The Guide for the Perplexed

7 " No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means. "

― Maimonides

8 " Every human being should regard himself as if he were exactly balanced between innocence and guilt. Simultaneously he should regard the world as being in the same case. It follows then that if he performs one good deed, he has weighted the scales in favour of both himself and of the whole world, and thus brought about salvation both for himself and for all the inhabitants of the world. "

― Maimonides

9 " If a person studies too much and exhausts his reflective powers, he will be confused, and will not be able to apprehend even that which had been within the power of his apprehension. For the powers of the body are all alike in this respect. "

― Maimonides

10 " The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it "

― Maimonides

11 " When the Rabbis stated that obedience or disobedience to the commandments depends not on the will of Hashem but on man’s free will, they echoed Jeremiah, who said, “Out of the mouth of the Most High there comes neither the bad nor the good” (Lamentations 3:38). By the bad he meant vice, and by the good he intended virtue, meaning that Hashem does not predetermine any person as bad or good. Since this is so, a person owes it to himself to mourn his sins and transgressions, since he has committed them of his own free will, as Jeremiah says, “For what should a living man mourn? Let every man mourn because of his sins” (Lamentations 3:39). Jeremiah answers his question positively, telling us that the remedy for our disease lies with us. Just as our failings stemmed from our own free will, so do we have the power to repent of our evil deeds. "

― Maimonides , Rambam: Shemonah Perakim, The Eight Chapters; Maimonides' Introduction to Ethics of the Fathers; Perek Chelek; Discourse on the World to Come

12 " The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision. "

― Maimonides , The Guide for the Perplexed

13 " We naturally like what we have been accustomed to, and are attracted towards it. [...] The same is the case with those opinions of man to which he has been accustomed from his youth; he likes them, defends them, and shuns the opposite views. "

― Maimonides , The Guide for the Perplexed

14 " אל תחשוב שהסודות הגדולים האלה ידועים עד תכליתם וסופם לאחד מאתנו. לא! אלא שפעמים האמת מבהיקה לנו עד שאנו חושבים אותה לאור יום. אחרי-כן החומרים וההרגלים חוזרים ומסתירים אותה עד שאנו חוזרים להיות בלילה אפל, קרוב למה שהיינו בתחילה. "

― Maimonides , The Guide for the Perplexed

15 " Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen. "

― Maimonides

16 " Anticipate charity by preventing poverty. "

― Maimonides

17 " Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. "

― Maimonides

18 " In the realm of Nature there is nothing purposeless, trivial, or unnecessary "

― Maimonides

19 " All the evils that men cause to each other because of certain desires, or opinions or religious principles, are rooted in ignorance. [All hatred would come to an end] when the earth was flooded with the knowledge of God. "

― Maimonides

20 " Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still. "

― Maimonides