Quotations

"Faith is what I call a mind-move, a radical shift in awareness. The expression 'a leap of faith' is so true. Faith is not something we can arrive at by a careful, step-by-step process. It is not something we can square with our intellect. Faith does not make sense, nor does it feel safe. It is what takes us further after the questions that can be answered logically have been exhausted. To have faith, we must let go. Faith is like swimming the backstroke, reaching above and behind is into an unknown we cannot see. Faith is like driving forward with only the rearview mirror as a guide."

— Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, American rabbi, born 1914

"Dialogue does not happen when we are adversaries."

— Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, American rabbi, born 1914

"The awareness that we stand in the presence of the Living God is one of the most important realizations we can install in our operative consciousness. God is always present. The question is, how present are we? We want to stand in that Presence without opacity. Our work is to penetrate, in meditation and in action, to the very heart of being nokhach penei ha-Shem (Lamentations 2:19), of being truly present before God."

— Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, American rabbi, born 1914

"There is a basic notion that every soul has two 'wings'. These 'wings of the soul' are Love and Awe. When the soul is free, fresh and open, and available for inspiration, it flies on these two wings. With one wing it is hard to fly; you must have two."

— Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, American rabbi, born 1914

"DNA has shown, whether it's the death penalty or not, there are flaws with eyewitness testimony, false confessions and crime labs. We know many more people have been wrongfully convicted than anyone thought."

— Barry Scheck, American lawyer, born 1949

"I am so rich that I must give myself away."

— Egon Schiele, Austrian painter, born 1890

"The depth of a man is a limit only he can know, should he have the courage to explore into the dark."

— Kyle Schmalenberg

"You can't have a good bullfight without a good bull."

— Julian Schnabel, American painter, born 1951

"Every Soul is a Diamond."

— Menachem Schneerson, Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe, born 1902

"Because time is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: the same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again."

— Menachem Schneerson, Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe, born 1902

"Defy terror with beauty. Do kindness beyond reason. Combat darkness with infinite light."

— Menachem Schneerson, Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe, born 1902

"I learned without her saying a word that there are truly many ways to pray, and lighting a candle is one of them."

— Pat Schneider, American poet, born 1934

"I go fishing in my mind. I put out bait, the bait of my own longing, my desire, and my hunger for connection, for a tug of something alive at the end of a line. Something that I may have to struggle with to pull in, but that will be wild and important to me, whether I keep it or let it go."

— Pat Schneider, American poet, born 1934

"Writing is an animal that lives in the soul. It must not be whipped into doing tricks. It is not a circus animal. It can be fierce, but it is not malevolent. It can be playful, but it is not without wisdom. Above all, it is wild. A wild animal has to sleep sometimes. This is a time of deep sleep for my writing."

— Pat Schneider, American poet, born 1934