The Guide for the Perplexed Quotes

“Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.”
― Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

“We naturally like what we have been accustomed to, and are attracted towards it. [...] The same is the case with those opinions of man to which he has been accustomed from his youth; he likes them, defends them, and shuns the opposite views.”
― Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

“Your purpose...should always be to know...the whole that was intended to be known.”
― Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

“The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.”
― Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

“The person who wishes to attain human perfection should study logic first, next mathematics, then physics, and, lastly, metaphysics.”
― Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

“If God were corporeal, He would consist of atoms, and would not be one; or He would be comparable to other beings: but a comparison implies the existence of similar and of dissimilar elements, and God would thus not be one. A corporeal God would be finite, and an external power would be required to define those limits.”
― Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“WHEN reading my present treatise, bear in mind that by "faith" we do not understand merely that which is uttered with the lips, but also that which is apprehended by the soul, the conviction that the object [of belief] is exactly as it is apprehended. If, as regards real or supposed truths, you content yourself with giving utterance to them in words, without apprehending them or believing in them, especially if you do not seek real truth, you have a very easy task as, in fact, you will find many ignorant people professing articles of faith without connecting any idea with them.”
― Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed

“The passage, “And He rested on the seventh day” (Exod. xx. 11) is interpreted as follows: On the seventh Day the forces and laws were complete, which during the previous six days were in the state of being established for the preservation of the Universe. They were not to be increased or modified.”
― Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“The definition of a thing includes its efficient cause; and since God is the Primal Cause, He cannot be defined, or described by a partial definition. A quality, whether psychical, physical, emotional, or quantitative, is always regarded as something distinct from its substratum;”
― Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“the laws remain undisturbed (ch. xxvii.). Apparent exceptions, the miracles, originate in these laws, although man is unable to perceive the causal relation.”
― Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“Men like the opinions to which they have been accustomed from their youth; they defend them, and shun contrary views: and this is one of the things that prevents men from finding truth, for they cling to the opinions of habit.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, The Guide for the Perplexed

“According to his opinion, man should only believe what he can grasp with his intellectual faculties, or perceive by his senses, or what he can accept on trustworthy authority. Beyond this nothing should be believed.”
― Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed - Enhanced Version

“Alexander Aphrodisius said that there are three causes which prevent men from discovering the exact truth: first, arrogance and vainglory; secondly, the subtlety, depth, and difficulty of any subject which is being examined; thirdly, ignorance and want of capacity to comprehend what might be comprehended.”
― Maimónides, Guide for the Perplexed - Enhanced Version

“Maimonides was a zealous disciple of Aristotle, although the theory of the Kalām might seem to have been more congenial to Jewish thought and belief. The Kalām upheld the theory of God’s Existence, Incorporeality, and Unity, together with the creatio ex nihilo. Maimonides nevertheless opposed the Kalām, and, anticipating the question, why preference should be given to the system of Aristotle, which included the theory of the Eternity of the Universe, a theory contrary to the fundamental teaching of the Scriptures, he exposed the weakness of the Kalām and its fallacies.”
― Maimónides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“here departs from his master, and holds that the spheres and the intellects had a beginning, and were brought into existence by the will of the Creator. He does not attempt to give a positive proof of his doctrine; all he contends is that the theory of the creatio ex nihilo is, from a philosophical point of view, not inferior to the doctrine which asserts the eternity of the universe, and that he can refute all objections advanced against his theory (ch. xiii.-xxviii.).”
― Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“According to Maimonides, the moral faculty would, in fact, not have been required, if man had remained a purely rational being. It is only through the senses that “the knowledge of good and evil” has become indispensable. The narrative of Adam’s fall is, according to Maimonides, an allegory representing the relation which exists between sensation, moral faculty, and intellect.”
― Maimonides, A Guide for the Perplexed

“יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות, לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון. והוא ממציא כל הנמצא; וכל הנמצאים מן שמיים וארץ ומה ביניהם, לא נמצאו אלא מאמיתת הימצאו. ואם יעלה על הדעת שהוא אינו מצוי, אין דבר אחר יכול להימצאות. ואם יעלה על הדעת שאין כל הנמצאים מלבדו מצויים, הוא לבדו יהיה מצוי ולא ייבטל הוא לביטולם: שכל הנמצאים צריכין לו; והוא ברוך הוא אינו צריך להם, ולא לאחד מהם.”
― משה בן מימון, ספר המדע

“אל תחשוב שהסודות הגדולים האלה ידועים עד תכליתם וסופם לאחד מאתנו. לא! אלא שפעמים האמת מבהיקה לנו עד שאנו חושבים אותה לאור יום. אחרי-כן החומרים וההרגלים חוזרים ומסתירים אותה עד שאנו חוזרים להיות בלילה אפל, קרוב למה שהיינו בתחילה.”
― משה בן מימון, מורה נבוכים

“דע, המעיין בספרי זה, שהאמונה (אעתקאד) אינה העניין הנאמר אלא העניין המצטייר בנפש כאשר מקבלים-כאמת שהוא כך כפי שהצטייר.
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כפי שאתה מוצא רבים מן הטיפשים היודעים בעל-פה עיקרי-אמונה אשר אין הם מציירים להם משמעות כלל.”
― משה בן מימון, מורה נבוכים

“El espíritu del Señor habló en mí, y en mi lengua está su palabra”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“Profeta halla en sí mismo la causa que le impele a ejecutar tales proezas.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“Los cuerpos de los hombres muertos caerán como estiércol sobre la haz del campo, y como manojo tras el segador, que no hay quien lo recoja.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“No se alabe el Sabio en su sabiduría, ni en su valentía se alabe el valiente, ni el rico en sus riquezas; más alábese en esto el que hubiere de alabar, en entenderme y conocerme”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“No des a los extraños tu honor, ni al cruel tus años”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“Poseer y disfrutar las más altas facultades intelectivas, y las nociones que nos llevan a tener ideas metafísicas ciertas acerca de Dios.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“los principios de la perfección moral nos han sido dados para beneficio de la humanidad.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“La mayoría de los preceptos aspiran a producir esta perfección; pero todavía no es sino el ejercicio preparatorio para otra de más altos quilates, y no debe ser buscada por sí misma.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“la condición moral, que es el más alto y excelente grado de la naturaleza humana.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“Los filósofos han enseñado que el que cifra todos sus anhelos y afanes en poseer esta clase de perfección, anda detrás de cosas perecederas e imaginarias, que aunque le pertenecieran durante toda la vida, no le harían mejor ni más perfecto.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA

“Por eso, cuando cesa la relación, el que ha sido gran rey puede hallarse una mañana igualado al más vil de los hombres, sin que hayan experimentado mudanza alguna las cosas que creía poseer.”
― Moshe Ben Maimon, GUIA DE PERPLEJOS O DESCARRIADOS. TRATADO DE FILOSOFIA Y TEOLOGIA