The Jewish Wisdom Database

Literature is the safest key to a nation's treasure.

There can be no creative national literature without ancient traditions.

There is no limit to the contents that can be poured into the vessel called man.

One, two, three, four, Marry your girl at the early score! Do not philander, do not delay, Or somebody else will snatch her away!

If there is no truth, there is no mercy.

We have books on morality enough and to spare, but so few men of morals.

Who of you can know the heart of a mother with all its secret afflictions?

His name is the very soul of a man.

Research into the past, as an aim in itself, without the 'present', is not worth a bean.

Pity is the root of all creation.

One postponement leads to another.

The philosophy of a nation is to be found in its proverbs at times.

Punishment of the sinner is not to be treated as revenge.

To start a revolution is not hard; to end it well and launch a peaceful economy is beyond our powers.

A man should believe in God through faith, not because of miracles.

The Sabbath is a day of rest, of mental scrutiny and of balance. Without it the workdays are insipid.

The workshop of the nation's soul. [School]

All cobblers go barefoot.

Crime is its own punishment.

Who seeks to elevate his stature by donning a high paper hat or walking on stilts is but a clown.

Who studies gladly for a single hour will learn vastly more than one who studies glumly for hours on end.

Do not take by force what will be given you willingly!

Those who have no taste are incurable.

The translator is a commentator, and every commentator also adds something of himself towards the deepening of the matter, its explanation and emphasis.

Reading poetry in translation is like kissing a woman through a veil.