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Martin Buber Quotes

Philosopher

Martin Buber was a German philosopher known for his profound insights into human relationships. His work 'I and Thou' explored the direct relationship between individuals, which had a profound impact on existentialism and philosophical anthropology.

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All Men World Ifs Persons Way Doe Humans Knows Whole Mean Faces Thinking Empathy Encounters Human Beings May Atheism Divine Ends Form

Famous Martin Buber Quotes

“You do not attain to knowledge by remaining on the shore and watching the foaming waves, you must make the venture and cast yourself in, you must swim, alert and with all your force, even if a moment comes when you think you are losing consciousness; in this way, and in no other, do you reach anthropological insight.”

Ifs Thinking Way Moments Force Consciousness Losing Casts Wave Insight Swim Shore Venture

Book:Between Man and Man

Source: Between Man and Man

“I think no human being can give more than this. Making life possible for the other, if only for a moment.”

Ifs Thinking Giving Humans Moments Human Beings Atheism Positive Atheism

Book:Martin Buber on Psychology and Psychotherapy: Essays, Letters, and Dialogue

Source: Martin Buber on Psychology and Psychotherapy: Essays, Letters, and Dialogue

“If you want to raise a man from mud and filth, do not think it is enough to stay on top and reach a helping hand down to him. You must go all the way down yourself, down into mud and filth. Then take hold of him with strong hands and pull him and yourself out into the light.”

Ifs Thinking Men Way Want Enough Helping Hands Light Strong Raises Mud Helping Hand Filth Strong Hands

Author:Martin Buber

“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.”

Thinking Men Should Whole Happens Belief Grows Existence Accepting Knowledge Learning Awareness Adventure Discovery Absolutes Management Constant Code Willingness Formulas Stakes

Author:Martin Buber

“There are people of spirit and there are people of passion, both less common than one might think. Rarer still are the people of spirit and passion. But rarest of all is a passionable spirit.”

People Thinking Love Stills Might Spiritual Spirit Passion Common

Author:Martin Buber

“But it can also happen, if will and grace are joined, that as I contemplate the tree I am drawn into a relation, and the tree ceases to be an It. . . . Does the tree then have consciousness, similar to our own? I have no experience of that. But thinking that you have brought this off in your own case, must you again divide the indivisible? What I encounter is neither the soul of a tree nor a dryad, but the tree itself.”

Ifs Thinking Doe Soul Happens Consciousness Cases Grace Tree Relation Cease Contemplation Encounters Divides Contemplating You Again Indivisible

Author:Martin Buber

“It is usual to think of good and evil as two poles, two opposite directions, the antithesis of one another...We must begin by doing away with this convention.”

Thinking Two Evil Opposites Good And Evil Usual Conventions Antithesis Two Opposites

Author:Martin Buber

“But when a man draws a lifeless thing into his passionate longing for dialogue, lending it independence and as it were a soul, then there may dawn in him the presentiment of a world-wide dialogue with the world-happening that steps up to him even in his environment, which consists partially of things. Or do you seriously think that the giving and taking of signs halts on the threshold of that business where an honest and open spirit is found?”

Source: Great twentieth century Jewish philosophers: Shestov, Rosenzweig, Buber, with selections from their writings

About the Author

Born: February 8, 1878
Died: June 13, 1965
Known for: Philosopher
Quotes: 152

Books & Sources

I and ThouRelated source material

Between Man and ManRelated source material

Hasidism and modern manRelated source material

Ten Rungs: Collected Hasidic SayingsRelated source material

To Hallow this Life: An AnthologyRelated source material

Israel and the World: Essays in a Time of CrisisRelated source material

Tales of the HasidimRelated source material

Great twentieth century Jewish philosophers: Shestov, Rosenzweig, Buber, with selections from their writingsRelated source material

HasidismRelated source material

Martin Buber on Psychology and Psychotherapy: Essays, Letters, and DialogueRelated source material

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