“The self is not the hub but the spoke of the revolving wheel.”

— Abraham Joshua Heschel

Man's Quest For God : Studies In Prayer And Symbolism (1954), p. 7; Heschel would later use this analogy in several minor variations in other writings.
Context: We do not step out of the world when we pray; we merely see the world in a different setting. The self is not the hub but the spoke of the revolving wheel. It is precisely the function of prayer to shift the center of living from self-consciousness to self-surrender.

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Abraham Joshua Heschel 130

Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi 1907–1972

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Abraham Joshua Heschel 130

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