Maimonides Quotes

“Accept the truth from whatever source it comes.”

“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.”

“All the great evils which men cause to each other because of certain intentions, desires, opinions, or religious principles, are likewise due to non-existence, because they originate in ignorance, which is absence of wisdom.”

“Anticipate charity by preventing poverty.”

“Be convinced that, if man were able to reach the end without preparatory studies, such studies would not be preparatory but tiresome and utterly superfluous.”

“Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still.”

“Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics.”

“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.”

“Do not imagine that what we have said of the insufficiency of our understanding and of its limited extent is an assertion founded only on the Bible: for philosophers likewise assert the same, and perfectly understand it, without having regard to any religion or opinion.”

“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.”

“Every time you find in our books a tale, the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit.”

“Form can only be destroyed accidentally, i.e., on account of its connexion with substance, the true nature of which consists in the property of never being without a disposition to receive form.”

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

“However great the exertion of our mind may be to comprehend the Divine Being or any of the ideals, we find a screen and partition between Him and ourselves. Thus the prophets frequently hint at the existence of a partition between God and us.”

“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.”

“If men possessed wisdom, which stands in the same relation to the form of man as the sight to the eye, they would not cause any injury to themselves or to others; for the knowledge of truth removes hatred and quarrels, and prevents mutual injuries.”

“If the whole earth is infinitely small in comparison with the sphere of the stars, what is man compared with all these created beings!”

“In the realm of Nature there is nothing purposeless, trivial, or unnecessary.”

“It is better to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.”

“It is necessary to bear in mind that Scripture only teaches the chief points of those true principles which lead to the true perfection of man, and only demands in general terms faith in them.”

“It is thus necessary to examine all things according to their essence, to infer from every species such true and well established propositions as may assist us in the solution of metaphysical problems.”

“Man's shortcomings and sins are all due to substance of the body and not to its form, while all his merits are exclusively due to his form.”

“No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means.”

“Now, we occupy a lowly position, both in space and rank in comparison with the heavenly sphere, and the Almighty is Most High not in space, but with respect to absolute existence, greatness and power.”

“One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good – he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad – he and the world is destroyed.”

“Our rabbis decreed that a man should honor his wife more than himself, and love her as much as he loves himself.”

“Teach thy tongue to say, “I do not know”, and thou shalt progress.”

“The basic principle is that there is a First Being who brought every existing thing into being, for if it be supposed that he did not exist, then nothing else could possibly exist.”

“The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it.”

“The risk of a bad decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.”