“We manipulate what is available on the surface of the world; we must also stand in awe before the mystery of the world.”

—  Abraham Joshua Heschel

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.

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Abraham Joshua Heschel photo
Abraham Joshua Heschel130
Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi 1907–1972

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