“Transient bodies are only subject to destruction through their substance and not through their form, nor can the essence of their form be destroyed; in this respect they are permanent.”

—  Maimónides , book The Guide for the Perplexed

Source: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.8

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Transient bodies are only subject to destruction through their substance and not through their form, nor can the essenc…" by Maimónides?
Maimónides photo
Maimónides 180
rabbi, physician, philosopher 1138–1204

Related quotes

Jack Kerouac photo

“It's only through form that we can realize emptiness”

Jack Kerouac book The Dharma Bums

Source: The Dharma Bums

Maimónides photo

“No form remains permanently in a substance; a constant change takes place, one form is taken off and another is put on.”

Maimónides book The Guide for the Perplexed

Source: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.8

Maimónides photo

“Through the constant revolution of the fifth element, with all contained therein, the four elements are forced to move and to change their respective positions, so that fire and air are driven into the water, and again these three elements enter the depth of the earth. Thus are the elements mixed together; and when they return to their respective places, parts of the earth, in quitting their places, move together with the water, the air and the fire. In this whole process the elements act and react upon each other. The elements intermixed, are then combined, and form at first various kinds of vapours; afterwards the several kinds of minerals, every species of plants, and many species of living beings, according to the relative proportion of the constituent parts. All transient beings have their origin in the elements, into which again they resolve when their existence comes to an end. The elements themselves are subject to being transformed from one into another; for although one substance is common to all, substance without form is in reality impossible, just as the physical form of these transient beings cannot exist without substance.”

Maimónides book The Guide for the Perplexed

Source: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part I, pp.294-295 (1881) Tr. Friedlander

László Moholy-Nagy photo

“My talent lies in the expression of my life and creative power through light, colour and form. As a painter I can convey the essence of life.”

László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946) Hungarian artist

Art of the 20th century, Part 1 by Karl Ruhrberg, Klaus Honnef, Manfred Schneckenburger, Ingo F. Walther, Christiane Fricke (2000) p. 178.

Mooji photo

“Here you are invited into the direct experience of that timeless reality through the method of self-inquiry, which forms the essence of this book.”

Mooji (1954) Jamaican spiritual teacher

Greater than Sky, Vaster than Space, (2018), Part I

William Beckford photo

“Eternal Power!
Grant me through obvious clouds one transient gleam
Of thy bright essence in my dying hour!”

William Beckford (1760–1844) English novelist

"A Prayer", line 14; cited from Cyrus Redding Memoirs of William Beckford of Fonthill (London: Charles J. Skeet, 1859) vol. 2, p. 283.

Bolesław Prus photo

“There are neither graves nor death in Nature; there are various forms of existence, some of which enable us to be chemists, others only chemical substances.”

Bolesław Prus book The Doll

The Doll

Maimónides photo

“Man's shortcomings and sins are all due to the substance of the body and not to its form; while all his merits are exclusively due to his form.”

Maimónides book The Guide for the Perplexed

Source: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.8

Julien Offray de La Mettrie photo

“The ancients, persuaded that there is no body without a moving force, regarded the substance of bodies as composed of two primitive attributes. It was held that, through one of these attributes, this substance has the capacity for moving and, through the other, the capacity for being moved.”

Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1751) French physician and philosopher

Source: The Natural History of the Soul (1745), Ch. V Concerning the Moving Force of Matter, p.156

B.K.S. Iyengar photo

“Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills — it has to be earned through sweat. It is something that we must build up.”

B.K.S. Iyengar (1918–2014) Indian yoga teacher and scholar

Light on Life: B.K.S. Iyengar's Yoga Insights

Related topics