“Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme.”
Source: Who Is Man? (1965), Ch. 5<!-- The sense of the ineffable, p. 88 - 89 -->
Context: Awe is more than an emotion; it is a way of understanding, insight into a meaning greater than ourselves. The beginning of awe is wonder, and the beginning of wisdom is awe.
Awe is an intuition for the dignity of all things, a realization that things not only are what they are but also stand, however remotely, for something supreme. Awe is a sense for transcendence, for the reference everywhere to mystery beyond all things. It enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple: to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal. What we cannot comprehend by analysis, we become aware of in awe.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Abraham Joshua Heschel130
Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi 1907–1972Related quotes
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English mathematician and philosopher
1920s, Science and the Modern World (1925)
“The only real valuable thing is intuition.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi
Source: Who Is Man? (1965), Ch. 5<!-- The sense of the ineffable, p. 88 -->
Context: The world presents itself in two ways to me. The world as a thing I own, the world as a mystery I face. What I own is a trifle, what I face is sublime. I am careful not to waste what I own; I must learn not to miss what I face.
We manipulate what is available on the surface of the world; we must also stand in awe before the mystery of the world. We objectify Being but we also are present at Being in wonder, in radical amazement.
All we have is a sense of awe and radical amazement in the face of a mystery that staggers our ability to sense it.
Ricky Gervais (1961) English comedian, actor, director, producer, musician, writer, and former radio presenter
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Priest
Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (2006)
Context: I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.
Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944) British astrophysicist
Source: The Nature of the Physical World (1928), Ch. 13 Reality
Umberto Eco book Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language
[2] Dictionary vs. Encyclopedia, 2.1 : Porphyry strikes back, 2.1.1 : Is a definition an interpretation?
Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1984)
Context: A sign is not only something which stands for something else; it is also something that can and must be interpreted. The criterion of interpretability allows us to start from a given sign to cover, step by step, the whole universe of semiosis.