Harold S. Kushner Quotes

Quotes about:

• Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.

  Harold S. Kushner

  People, Growth, Return

  Harold S. Kushner (2006). “Overcoming Life's Disappointments”, p.48, Anchor

  103 Copy quote

• God does not cause our misfortunes. Some are caused by bad luck, some are caused by bad people, and some are simply an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal. living in a world of inflexible natural laws. The painful things that happen to us are not punishments for our misbehavior, nor are they in any way part of some grand design on God's part. Because the tragedy is not God's will, we need not feel hurt or betrayed by God when tragedy strikes. We can turn to Him for help in overcoming it, precisely because we can tell ourselves that God is as outraged by it as we are.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Hurt, Healing, Law

  Harold S Kushner (2011). “When Bad Things Happen to Good People: 20th Anniversary Edition”, p.159, Pan Macmillan

  141 Copy quote

• The purpose in life is not to win. The purpose in life is to grow and to share. "When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people's lives than you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Inspirational, Motivational, Winning

  133 Copy quote

• Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Soul, Comfort, Matter

  Harold S Kushner (2011). “When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough: The Search For a Life That Matters”, p.6, Pan Macmillan

  150 Copy quote

• People who pray for miracles usually don't get miracles. But people who pray for courage, for strength to bear the unbearable, for the grace to remember what they have left instead of what they have lost, very often find their prayers answered. Their prayers help them tap hidden reserves of faith and courage that were not available to them before.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Prayer, People, Miracle

  143 Copy quote

• Is there an answer to the question of why bad things happen to good people?...The response would be…to forgive the world for not being perfect, to forgive God for not making a better world, to reach out to the people around us, and to go on living despite it all…no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it has happened.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Asking Why, People, Perfect

  126 Copy quote

• The happiest people I know are people who don't even think about being happy. They just think about being good neighbors, good people. And then happiness sort of sneaks in the back window while they are busy doing good.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Inspirational, Happiness, Thinking

  91 Copy quote

• When you are kind to others, it not only changes you, it changes the world.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Change, Kindness, World

  57 Copy quote

• At some of the darkest moments in my life, some people I thought of as friends deserted me-some because they cared about me and it hurt them to see me in pain; others because I reminded them of their own vulnerability, and that was more than they could handle. But real friends overcame their discomfort and came to sit with me. If they had not words to make me feel better, they sat in silence (much better than saying, "You'll get over it," or "It's not so bad; others have it worse") and I loved them for it.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Hurt, Pain, Real

  "Living a Life That Matters: Resolving the Conflict Between Conscience and Success". Book by Harold Kushner, www.huffingtonpost.com. 2001.

  107 Copy quote

• If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul

  Harold S. Kushner

  Life, Thank You, Thankful

  107 Copy quote

• We do ourselves and others a disservice when we make old age something to be feared. Life is not a resource to be used up, so that the older we get, the less life we have left. Life is the accumulation of wisdom, love and experience of people encountered and obstacles overcome. The longer we live, the more life we possess.

  Harold S. Kushner

  People, Age, Overcoming

  9 Copy quote

• God is the light shining in the midst of darkness, not to deny that there is darkness in the world but to reassure us that we do not have to be afraid of the darkness because darkness will always yield to light. As theologian David Griffin puts in, God is all-powerful, His power enables people to deal with events beyond their control and He gives us the strength to do those things because He is with us.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Powerful, Yield, Light

  Harold S. Kushner (2006). “Overcoming Life's Disappointments”, p.15, Anchor

  82 Copy quote

• You don't become happy by pursuing happiness. You become happy by living a life that means something.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Sadness, Mean, Pursuing Happiness

  Harold S Kushner (2011). “When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough: The Search For a Life That Matters”, p.11, Pan Macmillan

  50 Copy quote

• But at the end, if we are brave enough to love, if we are strong enough to forgive, if we are generous enough to rejoice in another's happiness, and if we are wise enough to know that there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know, we can reenter paradise.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Wise, Strong, Brave

  78 Copy quote

• God is like a mirror. The mirror never changes, but everybody who looks at it sees something different.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Faith, Mirrors, Different

  53 Copy quote

• We are here to change the world with small acts of thoughtfulness done daily rather than with one great breakthrough.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Small Acts, Done, World

  76 Copy quote

• Integrity means being whole, unbroken, undivided. It describes a person who has united the different parts of his or her personality, so there is no longer a split in the soul ... For the person of integrity, life may not be easy but it is simple: Figure out what is right and do it. All other considerations come in second.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Integrity, Mean, Simple

  70 Copy quote

• We can endure much more than we think we can; all human experience testifies to that. All we need to do is learn not to be afraid of pain. Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don't deny it, don't be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever. One day, the pain will be gone and you will still be there.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Hurt, Pain, Grief

  Harold S Kushner (2011). “When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough: The Search For a Life That Matters”, p.170, Pan Macmillan

  64 Copy quote

• Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Inspirational, Life, Joy

  "When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough".

  8 Copy quote

• When a mentally retarded child is born, the religious question we often ask is, "Why does God let this happen?" The better question to pose is to ask, "What kind of community should we be so that mental retardation isn't a barrier to the enjoyment of one's full humanity?"

  Harold S. Kushner

  Religious, Children, Community

  7 Copy quote

• It is tempting at one level to believe that bad things happen to people (especially other people) because God is a righteous judge who gives them exactly what they deserve. By believing that we keep the world orderly and understandable.... But [this belief] has a number of serious limitations.... It teaches people to blame themselves. It creates guilt when there is no basis for guilt. And most disturbing of all, it does not even fit the facts.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Believe, Responsibility, Numbers

  30 Copy quote

• The circumstances of your life have uniquely qualified you to make a contribution. And if you don't make that contribution, nobody else can make it.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Giving, Circumstances, Contribution

  17 Copy quote

• When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: Ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Spiritual, Godly, Soul

  58 Copy quote

• I said in an interview at the time that God's job is not to make sick people healthy. That's the doctors' job. God's job is to make sick people brave.

  Harold S. Kushner

  God, Jobs, Doctors

  51 Copy quote

• You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.

  Harold S. Kushner

  Mans Search For Meaning, Feels, Happens

  Viktor Emil Frankl, Harold S. Kushner, William J. Winslade (2006). “Man's Search for Meaning”, p.7, Beacon Press

  7 Copy quote

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