Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Words have a lasting impact and can lead to actions that shape our reality.
This quote by Abraham Joshua Heschel emphasizes the significant power of speech and words, highlighting that what we say can influence actions and decisions. It suggests that language is more than mere sound; it is a catalyst for change and carries a weight that can resonate in the world long after it is spoken.
Themes
PowerWordsSpeechDeedsAction
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social change, a leader might use this quote to inspire action among listeners.
More from Abraham Joshua Heschel
All quotes βNormal consciousness is a state of stupor, in which the sensibility to the wholly real and responsiveness to the stimuli of the spirit are reduced. The mystics, knowing that man is involved in a hidden history of the cosmos, endeavor to awake from the drowsiness and apathy and to regain the state of wakefulness for their enchanted souls.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
The worship of reason is arrogance and betrays a lack of intelligence. The rejection of reason is cowardice and betrays a lack of faith.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
We worship God through our questions.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
When religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
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Truth has to be given in riddles. People can't take truth if it comes charging at them like a bull. The bull is always killed. You have to give people the truth in a riddle, hide it so they go looking for it and find it piece by piece; that way they learn to live with it.
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A good debater is not necessarily an effective vote-getter: you can find a hole in your opponent's argument through which you could drive a coach and four ringing jingle bells all the way, and thrill at the crystallization of a truth wrung out from a bloody dialogue - which, however, may warm only you and your muse, while the smiling paralogist has in the meantime made votes by the tens of thousands.
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