Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Martin Buber (Austrian Jewish Philosopher)

Martin Buber (1878–1965) was an Austrian-born Israeli Jewish theologian, philosopher, and novelist. One of the most creative and prominent religious thinkers of the 20th century, his approach to the man-God relationship had a significant influence on both Jewish and Christian theology in the twentieth century.

Born in Vienna, Buber studied philosophy at Vienna, Berlin, and Zürich, and then became interested in Hasidism. He was founding editor of the monthly journal Der Jude (1916–24; ‘The Jew,’) professor of comparative religion at Frankfurt 1923–33, then director of the Central Office for Jewish Adult Education until 1938 when he fled to Palestine to escape the Nazis and became professor of the sociology of religion at Jerusalem.

Buber published abundantly on social and ethical problems. He is best known for his religious philosophy, which he expanded most notably Ich und Du (1922; I and Thou, 1958,) contrasting personal relationships of mutuality and reciprocity with utilitarian or objective relationships.

Buber’s philosophy and his reworkings of Hasidic tales, collected in Die Legende des Baalschem (1908; The Legend of the Baal-Shem, 1956,) Die Geschichten des Rabbi Nachman (1906; Tales of Rabbi Nachman, 1956,) and Königtum Gottes (1932; Royalty of God, 1967,) have had a refined influence on European and U.S. literature. His only novel is Gog und Magog (1943; For the Sake of Heaven,) about the Hasidic world in Napoleonic times.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Martin Buber

There are three principles in a man’s being and life, the principle of thought, the principle of speech, and the principle of action. The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow-men is that I do not say what I mean and I don’t do what I say.
Martin Buber
Topics: Conflict

Power abdicates only under stress of counter-power.
Martin Buber
Topics: Stress

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.
Martin Buber
Topics: Travel

Play is the exultation of the possible.
Martin Buber
Topics: Rest, Pleasure, Leisure

Zusya said, a short while before his death:
“In the world to come I shall not be asked:
“Why were you not Moses?” I shall be asked:
“Why were you not Zusya?”
Martin Buber
Topics: Character

How would man exist if God did not need him, and how would you exist? You need God in order to be, and God needs you
Martin Buber
Topics: God

We cannot avoid using power, cannot escape the compulsion to afflict the world, so let us, cautious in diction and mighty in contradiction, love powerfully.
Martin Buber
Topics: Power, Love

The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings.
Martin Buber
Topics: World

The real struggle is not between East and West, or capitalism and communism, but between education and propaganda.
Martin Buber
Topics: Propaganda

Solitude is the place of purification.
Martin Buber
Topics: Solitude

I do not accept any absolute formulas for living. No preconceived code can see ahead to everything that can happen in a man’s life. As we live, we grow and our beliefs change. They must change. So I think we should live with this constant discovery. We should be open to this adventure in heightened awareness of living. We should stake our whole existence on our willingness to explore and experience.
Martin Buber
Topics: Experience

The one who count are those persons who-though they may be of little renown-respond to and are responsible for the continuation of the living spirit.
Martin Buber
Topics: People

Some would deny any legitimate use of the word God because it has been misused so much. Certainly it is the most burdened of all human words. Precisely for that reason it is the most imperishable and unavoidable. And how much weight has all erroneous talk about God’s nature and works (although there never has been nor can be any such talk that is not erroneous) compared with the one truth that all men who have addressed God really meant him? For whoever pronounces the word God and really means Thou, addresses, no matter what his delusion, the true Thou of his life that cannot be restricted by any other and to whom he stands in a relationship that includes all others.
Martin Buber
Topics: God

He who loves brings God and the World together.
Martin Buber

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

When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.
Martin Buber
Topics: Love

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