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
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.
In practice
In a speech about social change, a leader might use this quote to inspire action among listeners.
Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions.
Normal 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.
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.
The worship of reason is arrogance and betrays a lack of intelligence. The rejection of reason is cowardice and betrays a lack of faith.
We worship God through our questions.
When religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.
When a storm comes, it is the trees that get uprooted. Be as humble as the grass and nothing can touch you.
Even if the whole world turns their back on you, you will always have yourself.
Every book I've written has been a different attempt to understand something, and the success or failure of the previous one is irrelevant. I write the book I want.
Nothing focuses your mind quite like flying a jet. That's one reason NASA requires that astronauts fly T-38s: it forces us to concentrate and prioritize in some of the same ways we need to in a rocket ship.
Organisation can never be a substitute for initiative and for judgement.
Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.
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