Martin Buber

Martin Buber

1878-1965 • Austrian-Israeli

Jewish Mysticism

Jewish philosopher known for I and Thou and his collections of Hasidic tales. Taught that the divine is found in authentic encounter.

Key Works

  • I and Thou
  • Tales of the Hasidim
  • The Way of Man
104

quotes in library

Quotes by Martin Buber

104 quotes
“You can argue with anyone, but you can dialogue only with someone you take seriously.”
dialogueBetween Man and Man
“Genuine dialogue is rare. Argument is everywhere.”
dialogueBetween Man and Man
“Cultivate the rare practice.”
rareBetween Man and Man (paraphrase)
“Genuine conversation, and therefore every actual fulfillment of relation between men, means acceptance of otherness.”
conversationThe Knowledge of Man
“Otherness is what makes Thou possible.”
othernessThe Knowledge of Man (paraphrase)
“Suppress otherness, and you suppress the Thou.”
othernessThe Knowledge of Man (paraphrase)
“Embrace otherness, and you open the door to encounter.”
othernessThe Knowledge of Man (paraphrase)
“There are three kinds of dialogue: genuine, technical, and monologue disguised as dialogue.”
dialogueBetween Man and Man
“Most of what we call dialogue is monologue in disguise.”
dialogueBetween Man and Man
“Genuine dialogue requires that I take you as fully other.”
dialogueBetween Man and Man
“Not as a mirror of myself.”
mirrorBetween Man and Man
“Not as a means to my ends.”
meansBetween Man and Man
“As you, in your full being.”
beingBetween Man and Man
“This is rare. This is sacred.”
rareBetween Man and Man
“To know yourself, you must enter into relation.”
self-knowledgeI and Thou (paraphrase)
“There is no self apart from relation.”
selfI and Thou
“The self is constituted in encounter.”
selfI and Thou (paraphrase)
“Therefore: enter into encounter, again and again.”
encounterI and Thou (paraphrase)
“All actual life is encounter.”
lifeI and Thou
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