Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buberwas an Austrian-born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I–Thou relationship and the I–It relationship. Born in Vienna, Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies in philosophy. In 1902, he became the editor of the weekly Die Welt, the central organ of the Zionist movement, although he later withdrew from organizational work in Zionism. In...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth8 February 1878
CountryGermany
It is not the nature of the task, but its consecration, that is the vital thing.
I have learned a new form of service from the wars of Frederick, king of Prussia. It is not necessary to approach the enemy in order to attack him. In fleeing from him, it is possible to circumvent him as he advances and fall on him from the rear and force him to surrender. What is needed is not to strike straight at evil but to withdraw to the sources of divine power, and from there to circle around evil, bend it and transform it into its opposite.
The perfection of any matter, the highest or the lowest, touches on the divine.
The perpetual enemy of faith in the true God is not atheism (the claim that there is no God), but rather Gnosticism (the claim that God is known).
Freedom and destiny are solemnly promised to one another and linked together in meaning.
The prophet is appointed to oppose the kind, and even more: history.
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.
If we had the power over the ends of the earth, it would not give us that fulfillment of existence which a quiet devoted relationship to nearby life can give us.
One must be truly able to say I in order to know the mystery of the Thou in its whole truth.
To produce is to draw forth, to invent is to find, to shape is to discover...
Through the Thou a person becomes I.
Eclipse of the light of heaven, eclipse of God - such indeed is the character of the historic hour through which the world is now passing
The ones who count are those persons who - though they may be of little renown - respond to and are responsible for the continuation of the living spirit.
If a person kills a tree before its time, it is like having murdered a soul.-Rabbi Nachman