Glikl, Memoirs (17th c. Ashkenaz) (Turniansky edition, 2019)
We have no ability to judge whether one man's lot in this world is better than another's. People often receive their benefits in this world, while others -- their benefits are reserved for them in the world to come. You can be assured that nothing escapes great, beneficent G-d. A righteous man, though perhaps he has not fared well in this world, can be assured that in the world to come his righteousness will bear fruit so that he will be rewarded with wealth, pleasure, everything that he lacked, the poor wretch, in this world, where he was forced to see the many wicked men in this world deriving much pleasure from all the good things in life -- while the righteous man often lacks even enough bread to satisfy his hunger. If he accepts this with love, praising and thanking his Maker for everything, until, by dint of righteousness and patience, he is no longer distressed and can approach the Judge on high, that is when he will find out why it is that good men suffer in this world while so many haughty wicked men prosper. In this way he will realize how right he was to adhere to righteousness and devotion, and he will give praise to G-d above.
We have no ability to judge whether one man's lot in this world is better than another's. People often receive their benefits in this world, while others -- their benefits are reserved for them in the world to come. You can be assured that nothing escapes great, beneficent G-d. A righteous man, though perhaps he has not fared well in this world, can be assured that in the world to come his righteousness will bear fruit so that he will be rewarded with wealth, pleasure, everything that he lacked, the poor wretch, in this world, where he was forced to see the many wicked men in this world deriving much pleasure from all the good things in life -- while the righteous man often lacks even enough bread to satisfy his hunger. If he accepts this with love, praising and thanking his Maker for everything, until, by dint of righteousness and patience, he is no longer distressed and can approach the Judge on high, that is when he will find out why it is that good men suffer in this world while so many haughty wicked men prosper. In this way he will realize how right he was to adhere to righteousness and devotion, and he will give praise to G-d above.
Ursula K. Le Guin, "Telling is Listening," The Wave in the Mind
Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it.
Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it.
Barbara Fredrickson, Positivity (2009)
Recast aspects of your daily life that before seemed hidden from view or altogether mundane as gifts to be cherished.
Recast aspects of your daily life that before seemed hidden from view or altogether mundane as gifts to be cherished.
Moses de Leon, Sefer HaRimonim (13th c. Castile)
The sublime, inner essences [of infinity] secretly constitute a chain linking everything from the highest to the lowest, extending from the upper pool to the edge of the universe. There is nothing -- not even the tiniest thing -- that is not fastened to the links on this chain. Everything is catenated in its mystery, caught in its oneness.
The sublime, inner essences [of infinity] secretly constitute a chain linking everything from the highest to the lowest, extending from the upper pool to the edge of the universe. There is nothing -- not even the tiniest thing -- that is not fastened to the links on this chain. Everything is catenated in its mystery, caught in its oneness.
Etty Hillesum, from her diary, January 8 1942
I thank You, G-d, peace and quiet now reign in my great inner Domain, thanks to the strong central authority You exert. The furthest flung boundaries sense Your authority and Your love and allow themselves to be guided by You.
I thank You, G-d, peace and quiet now reign in my great inner Domain, thanks to the strong central authority You exert. The furthest flung boundaries sense Your authority and Your love and allow themselves to be guided by You.