The Jewish Wisdom Database

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

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

Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither! [Gather ye rosebuds while ye may!]

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

There is no sacrifice like heartbreak.

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

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a signet upon your arm!

All cobblers go barefoot.

Who hides his sins will not prosper.

If a sin waylays a man and he rejects it, that is deemed a great virtue.

Crime is its own punishment.

Sometimes one must look into ashes to find a solitary spark.

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.

As wine enlivens the heart, so do the words of the Torah.

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.

The good translation is, to a certain extent, an artistic work more difficult than the original.

Sometimes one must translate not the lines themselves but what is written between them.

The wisdom of wisdoms is that a man should not be overwise.

Who is wise? He who can learn from every man. Who is strong? He who can control his passions. Who is rich? He who is content with his lot. Whom do men honor? He who honors his fellow men.

There are words like lofty mountains, and words like yawning gulfs.

Success, in a generally accepted sense of the term, means the opportunity to experience and to realize to the maximum the forces that are within us.