For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying. Abraham Joshua Heschel More Quotes by Abraham Joshua Heschel More Quotes From Abraham Joshua Heschel We can never sneer at the stars, mock the dawn, or scoff at the totality of being. Abraham Joshua Heschel mockstarsdawn A soul can create only when alone. Abraham Joshua Heschel proximitysoul He who is satisfied has never truly craved, and he who craves for the light of God neglects his ease for ardor. Abraham Joshua Heschel neglectlightease Self-respect is the root of discipline Abraham Joshua Heschel disciplineselfroots There is a built-in sense of indebtedness in the consciousness of man, an awareness of owing gratitude, or being caled upon at certain moments to reciprocate, to answer, to live in a way which is compatible with the grandeur and mystery of living. Abraham Joshua Heschel gratitudeanswersmen How embarrassing for man to be the greatest miracle on earth and not to understand it! Abraham Joshua Heschel miracleearthmen The supremacy of expediency is being refuted by time and truth. Time is an essential dimension of existence defiant of man's power, and truth reigns in supreme majesty, unrivaled, inimitable, and can never be defeated. Abraham Joshua Heschel reignessentialsmen Those of faith who plant sacred thoughts in the uplands of time, the secret gardeners of the Lord in mankind's desolate hopes, may slacken and tarry but rarely betray their vocation. Abraham Joshua Heschel sacredsecretmay Self-sufficiency, independence, the capacity to stand apart, to differ, to resist, and to defy-all are modes of being human. Abraham Joshua Heschel independencebeing-humanself Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions. Abraham Joshua Heschel actionattentiongiving All events are secretly interrelated; the sweep of all we are doing reaches beyond the horizon of our comprehension. Abraham Joshua Heschel horizoneventsrelationship Only those will apprehend religion who can probe its depth, who can combine intuition and love with the rigor of method Abraham Joshua Heschel intuitionand-lovedepth New insight begins when satisfaction comes to an end, when all that has been seen, said, or done looks like a distortion. ... Man's true fulfillment depends on communion with that which transcends him. Abraham Joshua Heschel donemenlooks Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. Abraham Joshua Heschel prayerhumbleanswers You must build your life as if it were a work of art. Abraham Joshua Heschel works-of-artifsart Being points beyond itself. Abraham Joshua Heschel takenexpressionthinking The idea of dependence is an explanation, whereas self-sufficiency is an unprecedented, nonanalogous concept in terms of what we know about life within nature. Is not self-sufficiency itself insufficient to explain self-sufficiency? Abraham Joshua Heschel termselfideas Being is transcended by a concern for being. Our perplexity will not be solved by relating human existence to a timeless, subpersonal abstraction which we call essence. We can do justice to human being only by relating it to the transcendent care for being. Abraham Joshua Heschel careessencejustice The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God. One cannot pray unless he has faith in his own ability to accost the infinite, merciful, eternal God. Abraham Joshua Heschel issueshave-faithprayer Faith is an awareness of divine mutuality and companionship, a form of communion between God and man. It is not a psychical quality, something that exists in the mind only, but a force from the beyond. Abraham Joshua Heschel qualitymindmen
