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Martin Buber QUOTES

Martin Buber QUOTES

81 " When we encounter another individual truly as a person, not as an object for use, we become fully human "

― Martin Buber

82 " In adolescence students are suddenly turned loose on books worth reading, but generally don’t know how to read them. "

― Martin Buber

83 " The abyss and the light of the world,
Time's need and the craving for eternity,
Vision, event, and poetry:
Was and is dialogue with you. "

― Martin Buber

84 " Rabbi Heshel said: “A man should be like a vessel that willingly receives what its owner pours into it, whether it be wine or vinegar. "

― Martin Buber , Tales of the Hasidim, Vols 1-2

85 " Thus the poet is the messenger of God and of the earth and is at home in the two spheres. The force of fire is his force; it burns in contradiction, and it shines in unity. Like Enoch, of whom a legend tells that he was transformed from flesh to fire; his bones are glowing coals, but his eyelashes are the splendor of the firmament. "

― Martin Buber , Daniel: Dialogues on Realization

86 " Of Enoch, who walked with Elohim, it is told that he had become one of the angels who was all eyes and wings. Thus is the poet. Everything in him perceives the things, and everything in him flies past the things. He is wholly in the one thing that he experiences, and yet is already and still in all the others at the same time. "

― Martin Buber , Daniel: Dialogues on Realization

87 " is even worse than fear for oneself. The shadows of madness became longer as the day progressed, and even though it was certain that crime could have no permanence, it was unfortunately uncertain how long and how far God would permit this trial to go, for I am sorry to say that in history there are many examples of extended periods of darkness. "

― Martin Buber , The Letters of Martin Buber: A Life of Dialogue

88 " If you cannot get across it, you must get across it, nevertheless. "

― Martin Buber , Tales of the Hasidim, Vols 1-2

89 " In order to speak to the world what I have heard, I am not bound to step into the street. I may remain standing in the door of my ancestral house. … "

― Martin Buber , Tales of the Hasidim, Vols 1-2

90 " The basic word I-You can only be spoken with one’s whole being. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou

91 " By the term short story I mean the recital of a destiny which is represented in a single incident; by anecdote the recital of a single incident which illumines an entire destiny. "

― Martin Buber , Tales of the Hasidim, Vols 1-2

92 " The encounter with God does not come to man in order that he may henceforth attend to God but in order that he may prove its meaning in action in the world. All revelation is a calling and a mission. But again and again man shuns actualization and bends back toward the revealer: he would rather attend to God than to the world. Now that he has bent back, however, he is no longer confronted by a You; he can do nothing but place a divine It in the realm of things, believe that he knows about God as an It, and talk about him. Even as the egomaniac does not live anything directly, whether it be a perception or an affection, but reflects on his perceiving or affectionate I and thus misses the truth of the process, thus the theomaniac (who, incidentally, can get along very well with the egomaniac in the very same soul) will not let the gift take full effect but reflects instead on that which gives, and misses both.gift take full effect but reflects instead on that which gives, and misses both.

When you are sent forth, God remains presence for you; whoever walks in his mission always has God before him: the more faithful the fulfillment, the stronger and more constant the nearness. Of course, he cannot attend to God but he can converse with him. Bending back, on the other hand, turns God into an object. It appears to be a turning toward the primal ground, but belongs in truth to the world movement of turning away, even as the apparent turning away of those who fulfill their mission belongs in truth to the world movement of turning toward. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou

93 " Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived. The truth is too complex and frightening; the taste for the truth is an acquired taste that few acquire. Not all deceptions are palatable. Untruths are too easy to come by, too quickly exploded, too cheap and ephemeral to give lasting comfort. Mundus vult decipi; but there is a hierarchy of deceptions. Near the bottom of the ladder is journalism: a steady stream of irresponsible distortions that most people find refreshing although on the morning after, or at least within a week, it will be stale and flat. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou

94 " Those who tell of two ways and praise one are recognized as prophets or great teachers. They save men from confusion and hard choices. They offer a single choice that is easy to make because those who do not take the path that is commended to them live a wretched life. To walk far on this path may be difficult, but the choice is easy, and to hear the celebration of this path is pleasant. Wisdom offers simple schemes, but truth is not so simple. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou

95 " Because we cannot circle above all existence – sleepless, unbroken, boundless, glowing – we content ourselves with being submerged and awakening . "

― Martin Buber , Daniel: Dialogues on Realization

96 " We say 'far away'; the Zulu has for that a word which means, in our sentence form, 'There where someone cries out: "Oh mother, I am lost." ' The Fuegian soars above our analytic wisdom with a seven-syllabled word whose precise meaning is, 'They stare at one another, each waiting for the other to volunteer to do what both wish, but are not able to do. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou

97 " True unity cannot be found, it can only be created. He who creates it realizes the unity of the world in the unity of his soul. Thus beforehand he must live through the tension of the world in his soul as his own soul's tension. "

― Martin Buber , Daniel: Dialogues on Realization

98 " Whoever knows the world as something to be utilized knows God the same way. His prayers are a way of unburdening himself– and fall into the ears of the void. He– and not the 'atheist' who from the night and longing of his garret window addresses the nameless– is godless. "

― Martin Buber

99 " Here the You appeared to man out of a deeper mystery, addressed him out of the dark, and he responded with his life. Here the word has become life, and this life, whether it fulfilled or broke the law -both are required on occasion lest the spirit die on earth- is teaching. Thus it stands for posterity in order to teach it, not what is and not what ought to be, but how one lives in the spirit, in the countenance of the You. And that means: it stands ready to become a You for them at any time, opening up the You-world; no, it does not stand ready, it always comes toward them and touches them. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou

100 " When a culture is no longer centered in a living and continually renewed relational process, it freezes into the It-world which is broken only intermittently by the eruptive, glowing deeds of solitary spirits. From that point on, common causality, which hitherto was never able to disturb the spiritual conception of the cosmos, grows into an oppressive and crushing doom. Wise, masterful fate which, as long as it was attuned to the abundance of meaning in the cosmos, held sway over all causality, has become transformed into demonic absurdity and has collapsed into causality. "

― Martin Buber , I and Thou