He who loves brings God and the World together.
—Martin Buber
Solitude is the place of purification.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Solitude
There are three principles in a man’s being and life, the principle of thought, the principle of speech, and the principle of action. The origin of all conflict between me and my fellow-men is that I do not say what I mean and I don’t do what I say.
—Martin Buber
We cannot avoid using power, cannot escape the compulsion to afflict the world, so let us, cautious in diction and mighty in contradiction, love powerfully.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Power, Love
Power abdicates only under stress of counter-power.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Stress
I do not accept any absolute formulas for living. No preconceived code can see ahead to everything that can happen in a man’s life. As we live, we grow and our beliefs change. They must change. So I think we should live with this constant discovery. We should be open to this adventure in heightened awareness of living. We should stake our whole existence on our willingness to explore and experience.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Experience
The atheist staring from his attic window is often nearer to God than the believer caught up in his own false image of God.
—Martin Buber
All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Travel
The real struggle is not between East and West, or capitalism and communism, but between education and propaganda.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Propaganda
Play is the exultation of the possible.
—Martin Buber
Topics: Leisure, Pleasure
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Wilhelm Reich Austrian Psychoanalyst
Abraham Joshua Heschel American Jewish Rabbi
Moses Mendelssohn German Jewish Philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein Austrian-born British Philosopher
Jacques Derrida French Philosopher, Literary Theorist
Murray Bookchin American Political Thinker
Albert Einstein German-born Theoretical Physicist
Karl Popper Austrian-born British Philosopher
Abraham Isaac Kook Latvian-born Jewish Rabbi
Friedrich Hayek British Economist, Social Philosopher