I had given up practising my Jewish religion when I was a 14-year-old girl and did not begin to feel Jewish again until I had returned to God.
Edith SteinRead
On the question of relating to our fellowman - our neighbor's spiritual need transcends every commandment. Everything else we do is a means to an end. But love is an end already, since God is love.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The spiritual needs of others are more important than any rules we follow, and love itself is the ultimate goal.
In this quote, Edith Stein emphasizes the significance of love in our interactions with others. She suggests that the needs of our neighbors, particularly their spiritual needs, are paramount and should take precedence over any commandments or rules. Love, being the essence of God, is presented as the ultimate end we should seek, implying that our actions should always aim to foster love, which surpasses any other intention or outcome.
Themes
LoveSpiritualNeighborCommandmentsGod
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote during a community service event to emphasize the importance of love in helping others.
More from Edith Stein
All quotes →There is no profession which cannot be practiced by a woman.
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Because human development is the most specific and exalted mission of woman, studies in anthropology and theory of pedagogy are essential in girls' education.
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Each woman who lives in the light of eternity can fulfill her vocation, no matter if it is in marriage, in a religious order, or in a worldly profession.
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The world doesn't need what women have, it needs what women are.
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And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God's hands and leave it with Him.
Edith SteinRead
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Outside it's a perfect spring night. We stand on the sidewalk in front of our apartment building, and Henry takes my hand, and I look at him, and I raise our joined hands and Henry twirls me around and soon we're dancing down Belle Plaine Avenue, no music but the sound of cars whoosing by and our own laughter, and the smell of cherry blossoms that fall like snow on the sidewalk as we dance underneath the tress.
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