Maimonides Quotes About Evil

Quotes about: Evil

• Every man should view himself as equally balanced: half good and half evil. Likewise, he should see the entire world as half good and half evil.... With a single good deed he will tip the scales for himself, and for the entire world, to the side of good.

  Maimonides

  Men, Views, Evil

• All the evils that men cause to each other because of certain desires, or opinions or religious principles, are rooted in ignorance. [All hatred would come to an end] when the earth was flooded with the knowledge of God.

  Maimonides

  Religious, Ignorance, Men

• Every ignoramus imagines that all that exists, exists with a view to his individual sake; it is as if there were nothing that exists except him. And if something happens to him that is contrary to what he wishes, he makes the trenchant judgement that all that exists is an evil.

  Maimonides

  Views, Evil, Judgement

  Moses Maimonides, Isadore Twersky (1972). “A Maimonides Reader”, p.301, Behrman House, Inc

• One should see the world, and see himself as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good - he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad - he and the world is destroyed.

  Maimonides

  Evil, Balance, Doe

• The error of the ignorant goes so far as to say that God's power is insufficient, because he has given to this Universe the properties which they imagine cause these great evils, and which do not help all evil-disposed persons to obtain the evil which they seek, and to bring their evil souls to the aim of their desires, though these, as we have shown, are really without limit.

  Maimonides

  Errors, Evil, Soul

  Moses Maimonides (1919). “The Guide for the Perplexed”

• The great sickness and the grievous evil consist in this: that all the things that man finds written in books, he presumes to think of as true-and all the more so if the books are old.

  Maimonides

  Book, Reading, Men

  Moses Maimonides, Isadore Twersky (1972). “A Maimonides Reader”, p.465, Behrman House, Inc

• An ignorant man believes that the whole universe only exists for him: as if nothing else required any consideration. If, therefore, anything happens to him contrary to his expectation, he at once concludes that the whole universe is evil. If, however, he would take into consideration the whole universe, form an idea of it, and comprehend what a small portion he is of the Universe, he will find the truth. There are many ... passages in the books of the prophets expressing the same idea.

  Maimonides

  Believe, Book, Men

  Moses Maimonides (2012). “The Guide for the Perplexed”, p.268, Courier Corporation

• The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing, either includes the non-existence of that thing or the non-existence of some of its good conditions.

  Maimonides

  Evil, Certain, Existence

  Moses Maimonides (2012). “The Guide for the Perplexed”, p.266, Courier Corporation

• It is possible that the meaning of wisdom in Hebrew indicates aptitude for stratagems and the application of thought in such a way that the stratagems and ruses may be used in achieving either rational or moral virtues, or in achieving skill in a practical art, or in working evil and wickedness.

  Maimonides

  Art, Skills, Evil

  Moses Maimonides, Isadore Twersky (1972). “A Maimonides Reader”, p.353, Behrman House, Inc

• The first kind of evil is that which is caused to man by the circumstance that he is subject to genesis and destruction, or that he possesses a body.

  Maimonides

  Men, Evil, Body

  Moses Maimonides, Aeterna Press (1948). “The Guide for the Perplexed”, p.436, Aeterna Press

• The third class of evils comprise those which everyone causes to himself by his own action. This is the largest class, and is far more numerous than the second class. It is especially of these evils that all men complain, - only few men are found that do not sin against themselves by this kind of evil. ...This class of evil originates in man's vices, such as excessive desire for eating, drinking, and love; indulgence in these things in undue measure, or in improper manner, or partaking of bad food. This course brings diseases and afflictions upon the body and soul alike.

  Maimonides

  Drinking, Men, Class

  "Guide for the Perplexed". Book by Maimonides, Ch.12, 1190.

• Another fundamental principle taught by the Law of Moses is this: Wrong cannot be ascribed to God in any way whatever; all evils and afflictions as well as all kinds of happiness of man, whether they concern one individual or a community, are distributed according to justice; they are the result of strict judgement that admits no wrong whatever.

  Maimonides

  Men, Law, Evil

  Moses Maimonides (2016). “Guide for the perplexed”, p.1088, Moses Maimonides

• We suffer from the evils which we, by our own free will, inflict on ourselves and ascribe them to God, who is far from being connected with them!

  Maimonides

  Evil, Suffering, Free Will

  Moses Maimonides (2016). “Guide for the perplexed”, p.1034, Moses Maimonides

• Even the existence of this corporeal element, low as it in reality is, because it is the source of death and all evils, is likewise good for the permanence of the Universe and the continuation of the order of things, so that one thing departs and the other succeeds.

  Maimonides

  Reality, Order, Evil

  Moses Maimonides, Aeterna Press (1948). “The Guide for the Perplexed”, p.433, Aeterna Press

• The second class of evils comprises such evils as people cause to each other, when, e.g. , some of them use their strength against others. These evils are more numerous than those of the first kind... they likewise originate in ourselves, though the sufferer himself cannot avert them.

  Maimonides

  Class, People, Evil

  Moses Maimonides (2016). “Guide for the perplexed”, p.1036, Moses Maimonides

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin