Feelings dwell in man; but man dwells in his love. That is no metaphor, but the actual truth. Love does not cling to the I in such a way as to have the Thou only for its " content," its object; but love is between I and Thou. The man who does not know this, with his very being know this, does not know love; even though he ascribes to it the feelings he lives through, experiences, enjoys, and expresses.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that true love exists in the relationship between individuals rather than as a mere emotion or feeling.
Martin Buber's quote explores the essence of love, asserting that it is not just a feeling that an individual possesses but rather a relational dynamic that occurs between people. He suggests that if someone perceives love only as personal sentiments, they lack a true understanding of what love is, which involves a deeper connection and shared existence between 'I' and 'Thou'. Love, in this sense, transcends individual feelings and is fundamentally about the relationship itself.
In practice
Using this quote in a wedding ceremony to highlight the essence of love in a marriage.
When I confront a human being as my Thou and speak the basic word I-Thou to him, then he is no thing among things nor does he consist of things. He is no longer He or She, a dot in the world grid of space and time, nor a condition to be experienced and described, a loose bundle of named qualities. Neighborless and seamless, he is Thou and fills the firmament. Not as if there were nothing but he; but everything else lives in his light.
Play is the exultation of the possible.
There is no room for God in him who is full of himself.
Every person born in this world represents something new, something that never existed before, something original and unique.
It is usual to think of good and evil as two poles, two opposite directions, the antithesis of one another...We must begin by doing away with this convention.
God dwells wherever man lets Him in.
Passion cannot be beautiful without excess; one either loves too much or not enough.
One of the good things that come of a true marriage is, that there is one face on which changes come without your seeing them; or rather there is one face which you can still see the same, through all the shadows which years have gathered upon it.
Because there is nothing here than invites us to cherish unhappy lovers. Nothing is more vain than to die for love. What we ought to do is live.
Love in a hut, with water and a crust,_x000D_ _x000D_ Is - Love, forgive us! - cinders, ashes, dust.
If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.
What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing still, to love!
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