This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Ahad HaAm, pen name, born Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg
Whoever sets out to persuade men to accept a new idea, or one which seems to be new, not just as an idea, but as a truth that is felt, should know beforehand that the human mind is not a blank sheet, on which one an write with ease, and should not therefore grieve or despair when he finds that people do not pay attention to him.
Attention | Character | Despair | Men | Mind | People | Truth |
As a stick, when once it is dry and stiff you may break it, but you can never bend it into a straighter posture; so doth the man become incorrigible who is settled and stiffened into vice.
An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of learning.
Character | Discretion | Learning | Worth |
Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa, also known as Rabbeinu Behaye
It is integrity that invests man with immortality, and bestows upon him the privilege of direct communion with God.
Character | God | Immortality | Integrity | Man | Privilege |
Virtue, the strength and beauty of the soul, is the best gift of heaven; a happiness that, even above the smiles and frowns of fate, exalts great Nature’s favorites; a wealth that ne’er encumbers, nor can be transferr’d.
Beauty | Character | Fate | Heaven | Nature | Soul | Strength | Virtue | Virtue | Wealth | Beauty | Happiness |
There are many seasons in a man’s life - and the more exalted and responsible his position, the more frequently do these seasons recur - when the voice of duty and the dictates of feeling are opposed to each other; and it is only the weak and the wicked who yield that obedience to the selfish impulses of the heart which is due to reason and honor.
Character | Duty | Heart | Honor | Life | Life | Man | Obedience | Position | Reason |
Simeon ben Azai, sometimes Ben Azai
Despise not any man, and do not spurn anything; for there is no man that has not his hour, nor is there anything that has not its place.