My Life in Quotes- #160-#169
160. “A reporter asked Albert Einstein, “Why is it that we can make atomic bombs, but we can’t make peace?” Einstein replied, “It is because politics is much more complicated than atomic physics.””- quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer Book Review section, June 26, 1983, p. 3
When I was young and learned that the word “Shalom,” meant hello, goodbye, and peace, I was confused. I understood hello and goodbye, but had no concept of why the word peace was so important. Now, after 38 years serving in the army, and living in a world where peace is still elusive, I understand where Einstein was coming from!
161. “God makes material things out of spiritual, and Israel turns material things into spiritual things.”- Chassidic saying
One of the joys and the challenges of Jewish life and Jewish spiritual growth is to live in the world with all of its temptation and still live a life of holiness.
162.”We may have come here on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”- Boston mayoral candidate Mel King, quoted by Betsy Rose
Yes- we may want to judge people by their country of origin, but anyone who lives with us, in our community, experiences all the good and all the challenges that we all face together. As the midrash reminds us, we can’t drill under our own seat and expect it to not impact others.
163. “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”- Robert Frost
I imagine that when Robert Frost expressed this thought it was assumed that children grew up and launched into adulthood with an expectation that they would live on their own. Even then, the door remained open with home as a safety net.
164. “We are free only if we know, and so in proportion to our knowledge. There is no freedom without choice, and there is no 1choice without knowledge. . . implicit, therefore, in the very notion of liberty is liberty of the mind to absorb and to beget. . . the mind is in chains when it is without the opportunity to choose. One may argue, if one please, that opportunity to choose is more an evil than a good. One is guilty of a contradiction if one says that the opportunity can be denied, and liberty subsist. At the root of all liberty is the liberty to know.”- Justice Cardozo, quoted in Shma, March 2, 1984
Knowledge is power. If we don’t have freedom to make our own choices, to make poor choices and learn from the consequences, then we are in no way free.
165. “Man does not live by insight alone.”- Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man, p. 163
Throughout his writing, Abraham Joshua Heschel focuses on awe, on wonder, as a foundation of spiritual connection.
166. “There is always an easy solution to every problem- neat, plausible and wrong.”- H.L. Mencken
Well- maybe sometimes there’s an easy answer, but Mencken wisely cautions caution if it seems TOO simple.
167. “Take care of what is difficult while it is easy, and deal with what will become big while it is yet small.”- Lao Tsu
Oh yes- problems will fester and grow and ignoring them is not a wise choice. Most of the time. Sometimes the problem WILL go away though.
168. If a person does not judge himself, all things judge him, and all things become messengers of God.”- R. Nakhman of Bratslav
168. I think that what Reb Nachman is reminding us of is what we might think of as “karma.”
We will keep getting hit over the head with the same lesson over and over again until we take it to heart.
169. “Sometimes the easiest way to pay is money.”- source unknown
THIS! How often do I share this quote. It is SO true. There is ALWAYS a price to pay- time, money, energy, heartache. Problems that can be solved with money, with the big assumption that we have the money, are the best problems.
About This Series-– I love words. I love when a word exactly captures the moment, the feeling. How it precisely describes something that you experienced but didn’t know exactly how to express. It’s like a warm bath or a deeply satisfying meal.
And beyond that- a collection of words. A deeply insightful phrase, thought-provoking and uplifting. A quote to remember.
I started collecting quotes when I was 16 years old. (1972) I’m 70 now, as I write these words, (2026), and there are 473 quotes in my collection. At this precise moment.
That’s not really that many over the course of 54 years. I guess I am fairly discriminating. Sometimes years can go by and the collection lays dormant. In other years there is a great harvest of quotes.
These are not necessarily famous quotes, things you’ll often hear referenced. For the most part, they simply represent words that I read that made me stop for a moment to meditate and bask in their impact. And quotes I enjoy reading and re-reading and quoting myself!
These quotes represent the evolution of my thinking over the course of 54 years. I look forward to pondering what it is that made me find each one meaningful enough to save.