Maimonides Quotes
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According to the theory of those weak minded persons, man is more perfect than his Creator. For what man says or does has a certain object, whilst the actions of God are different; He commands us to do what is of no use to us, and forbids us to do what is harmless. Far be this! On the contrary, the sole object of the Law is to benefit us.
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You will find that there is no other difference of opinion as regards any portions of the Universe, except that the philosophers believe in the Eternity of the Universe and we believe in the Creation. Note this.
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The first kind of evil is that which is caused to man by the circumstance that he is subject to genesis and destruction, or that he possesses a body.
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There shall always be much silence in a man's conduct. He shall speak only about a matter concerned with wisdom or matters that are necessary to keep his body alive.
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Far from it be the notion that the Supreme Being is corporeal, having a material form.
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The more we desire for that which is superfluous, the more we meet with difficulties; our strength and possessions are spent in unnecessary things, and are wanting when required for that which is necessary.
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The theory that Divine Providence does not extend to man, and that there is no difference between man and other animals, implies very bad notions about God; it disturbs all social order, removes and destroys all the moral and intellectual virtues of man.
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It is forbidden to dwell in the vicinity of any of those with an evil tongue, and all the more to sit with them and listen to their words.
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The philosophers likewise assume that in Nature there is nothing in vain, so that everything that is not the product of human industry serves a certain purpose, which may be known or unknown to us.
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No matter how small his portion, let him rejoice in it.
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An artisan busies himself with his work for three hours each day and spends nine hours in study.
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The evil into which these philosophers have fallen is greater than that from which they sought to escape, because they refuse to say that God neglects or forgets a thing, and yet they maintain that His knowledge is imperfect, that He is ignorant of what is going on here on earth, that He does not perceive it.
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In so far as the soul is a force residing in the body; it has therefore been said that the properties of the soul depend of the condition of the body.
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A scholar ... should turn his ears from the talk of the illiterate and not take it to heart.
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The second class of evils comprises such evils as people cause to each other, when, e.g., some of them use their strength against others. These evils are more numerous than those of the first kind... they likewise originate in ourselves, though the sufferer himself cannot avert them.
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No form remains permanently in a substance; a constant change takes place, one form is taken off and another is put on.
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It is man's duty to love and to fear God, even without hope of reward or fear of punishment.
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Management Providence , knowledge, and intention are not the same when ascribed to us and when ascribed to God.
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The generation of Isaiah did not require the detailed description; his account, 'I saw the Lord,' &c., sufficed. The generation of the Babylonian exile wanted to learn all the details. ...Isaiah was so familiar with it that he did not consider it necessary to communicate it to others as a new thing, especially as it was well known to the intelligent.
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The fundamental imperative about idolatry was that worship was not to be paid to any created thing such as a messenger, a planet, a star, one of the four elements, or to anything produced from them.
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This is the way how we have to understand the accounts of trials; we must not think that God desires to examine us and to try us in order to know what He did not know before. Far is this from Him; He is far above that which ignorant and foolish people imagine concerning Him, in the evil of their thoughts. Note this.
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Actions are divided as regards their object into four classes; they are either purposeless, unimportant, or vain, or good.
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We are obligated to be more scrupulous in fulfilling the commandment of charity than any other positive commandment because charity is the sign of a righteous man.
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In accordance with the divine wisdom, genesis can only take place through destruction, and without destruction of the individual members of the species the species themselves would not exist permanently. Thus the true kindness, and beneficence, and goodness of God is clear.