Frasi di Mosè Maimonide pagina 3

“Non si dovrebbe credere che tutti gli esseri viventi esistano per il bene dell'uomo. Al contrario, anche tutti gli altri esseri viventi sono stati voluti per il loro stesso bene e non per il bene di qualcos'altro.”

Origine: Da La guida dei perplessi.

“Se una persona volesse prendersi cura di sé come si agisce nei confronti del proprio cavallo, eviterebbe molte malattie. Nessuno dà al suo cavallo troppo fieno, ogni padrone di un cavallo gliene serve una misura adatta a quanto gli necessita e può digerire, ma egli stesso mangia in eccesso. Inoltre sta ben attento a fargli fare ogni giorno il giusto allenamento per mantenerlo in buona forma, ma quando si tratta di sé stesso, l'uomo trascura di fare l'esercizio di cui il suo corpo ha bisogno, anche se questo è uno dei fondamentali principi per mantenersi in buona salute e per prevenire le malattie.”

Origine: Citato in Will Tuttle, Cibo per la pace, traduzione di Marta Mariotto, Sonda, Casale Monferrato, 2014, p. 43. ISBN 978-88-7106-742-1

“Usate della vostra ragione e potrete distinguere ciò che è stato detto allegoricamente, in senso figurato, a mo' d'iperbole, da ciò che va inteso nel senso letterale. Comprenderete allora tutte le profezie, imparerete a ritener i principi razionali di fede, e sarete graditi agli occhi di Dio che si compiace sommamente della verità e sdegna in sommo grado la falsità; la vostra mente e il vostro cuore non dovranno più sforzarsi a credere e ad accettare come Legge ciò che è falso o inverosimile; mentre la Legge, quando sia rettamente intesa, è sempre perfettamente vera.”

Origine: Da Guida alla buona salute, 1, 3; citato in Berrino 2010, p. XIII.

“Anche con la massima attenzione non è possibile avere gli organi in stato perfetto. A volte le feci diventano troppo secche o troppo liquide, a volte la digestione si rallenta, a volte si prova qualche dolore. La natura riporterà ogni cosa in ordine in breve tempo. Non bisogna prendere rimedi, perché, facendolo, si danneggerà il corpo e la situazione peggiorerà, oppure se il sintomo scomparirà, si abituerà il corpo a non funzionare senza assistenza dall'esterno.”

Origine: Da Moreh Nebhukim, (Guida agli Smarriti), (II, 47); citato in Antonio Belli, Storia della letteratura ebraica biblica e postbiblica, Nuova Accademia Editrice, Milano, 1961<sup>3</sup>, p. 325.

“Del pari, è vietato uccidere "esso [l'animale] e suo figlio in un sol giorno", facendo attenzione ed evitando di uccidere il figlio davanti alla madre.”

Origine: Da Guida alla buona salute, 4, 3; citato in Berrino 2010, p. XVIII.

“No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means.”

Mosè Maimonide: Frasi in inglese

“If a person studies too much and exhausts his reflective powers, he will be confused, and will not be able to apprehend even that which had been within the power of his apprehension. For the powers of the body are all alike in this respect.”

“…one should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds.”

“Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen.”

Foreword to The Eight Chapters Of Maimonides On Ethics, translated by Joseph I. Gorfinkle, Ph.D. Columbia University Press, New York (1912). Page 35-36. https://archive.org/details/eightchaptersofm00maim
Variante: "Accept the truth from whatever source it comes." Introduction to the Shemonah Peraqim, as quoted in Truth and Compassion: Essays on Judaism and Religion in Memory of Rabbi Dr. Solomon Frank (1983) Edited by Howard Joseph, Jack Nathan Lightstone, and Michael D. Oppenheim, p. 168
Variante: You must accept the truth from whatever source it comes.

“We naturally like what we have been accustomed to, and are attracted towards it. […] The same is the case with those opinions of man to which he has been accustomed from his youth; he likes them, defends them, and shuns the opposite views.”

“Anticipate charity by preventing poverty.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: The Guide for the Perplexed

“Your purpose… should always be to know… the whole that was intended to be known.”

“Actions are divided as regards their object into four classes; they are either purposeless, unimportant, or vain, or good.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: The Guide for the Perplexed

“The proposition has… been laid down in the most general terms, "All evils are negations." Thus for man death is evil; death is his non-existence. Illness, poverty, and ignorance are evils for man; all these are privations of properties…. The destruction of other things is likewise nothing but the absence of their form. After these propositions, it must be admitted as a fact that it cannot be said of God that He directly creates evil, or He has the direct intention to produce evil; this is impossible. His works are all perfectly good. He only produces existence, and all existence is good; whilst evils are of a negative character, and cannot be acted upon.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.25

“Transient bodies are only subject to destruction through their substance and not through their form, nor can the essence of their form be destroyed; in this respect they are permanent.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.10

“The true work of God is all good, since it is existence.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.8

“There are four different theories concerning Divine Providence; they are all ancient, known from the time of the Prophets, when the true law was revealed to enlighten these dark regions.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.10

“No matter how small his portion, let him rejoice in it.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.17

“You are no doubt aware that the Almighty, desiring to lead us to perfection and to improve our state of society, has revealed to us laws which are to regulate our actions. These laws, however, presuppose an advanced state of intellectual culture. We must first form a conception of the Existence of the Creator according to our capabilities; that is, we must have a knowledge of Metaphysics. But this discipline can only be approached after the study of Physics: for the science of Physics borders on Metaphysics, and must even precede it in the course of our studies, as is clear to all who are familiar with these questions.”

Origine: Hilkhot De'ot (Laws Concerning Character Traits), Chapter 2, Section 7, p. 33

“The philosophers likewise assume that in Nature there is nothing in vain, so that everything that is not the product of human industry serves a certain purpose, which may be known or unknown to us.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Introduction

“After a long time the great and awful Name was forgotten and the people, men, women and children, only recognized an image of wood or stone and the temple of wood or stone which they had been brought up from infancy to serve by bowing down.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.25

“Second Theory.—Whilst one part of the Universe owes its existence to Providence and is under control of a ruler and governor, another part is abandoned and left to chance. This is the view of Aristotle about Providence… He holds that God controls the spheres and what they contain; therefore the individual beings in the spheres remain permanently in the same form. …From the existence of the spheres other beings derive existence, which are constant in their species but not in their individuals.”

Maimónides libro Mishneh Torah

“Idolatry,” H. Russell, trans. (1983), p. 72
Mishneh Torah (c. 1180)

“Management [ Providence ], knowledge, and intention are not the same when ascribed to us and when ascribed to God.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.17

“Thus they shall not miss this particular branch of the many branches of the Law and will have no need to roam and ramble about in other books in search of information on matters set forth in this treatise.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.20

“A sensible man should not demand of me, or hope that when we mention a subject, we shall make a complete exposition of it.”

Maimónides libro Mishneh Torah

Book 3 (Sefer Zemanim "Times"), Treatise 8 (Kiddush HaChodesh "Sanctification of the New Moon"), closing words
Mishneh Torah (c. 1180)

“It was necessary that the very noble form of man, which is the image and likeness of God… should be joined to the substance of dust and darkness, the source of all defect and loss. For these reasons the Creator gave to the form of man power, rule, and dominion over the substance;—the form can subdue the substance, refuse the fulfillment of its desires, and reduce them, as far as possible, to a just and proper measure.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Introduction

“A scholar … should turn his ears from the talk of the illiterate and not take it to heart.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.8

“Every one of the six hundred and thirteen precepts serves to inculcate some truth, to remove some erroneous opinion, to establish proper relations in society, to diminish evil, to train in good manners, or to warn against bad habits. All this depends on three things: opinions, morals, and social conduct. …these three principles suffice for assigning a reason for every one of the Divine commandments.”

Maimónides libro Mishneh Torah

Treatise 3: “The Study of the Torah,” H. Russell, trans. (1983), p. 69
Mishneh Torah (c. 1180)

“It is frequently expressed in all parts of Scripture, that the worship of the stars would be followed by absence of rain, devastation of the land, bad times, diseases, and shortness of life. But abandonment of that worship, and the return to the service of God, would be the cause of the presence of rain, fertility of the ground, good times, health and length of life. Thus Scripture teaches, in order that man should abandon idolatry, the reverse of that which idolatrous priests preached to the people, for, as has been shown by us, the principal object of the Law is to remove this doctrine, and to destroy its traces.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.31

“This idea is confirmed in Scripture; it is distinctly stated that one sole thing, fear of God, is the object of the whole Law with its affirmative and negative precepts, its promises and its historical examples, for it is said, "If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this Law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God" (Deut. xxviii. 58) This is one of the two purposes of the Akedah (sacrifice or binding of Isaac).”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.30

“This shows the kindness of God to His creatures, even to us weak beings. His righteousness and justice as regards all animals are well known; for in the transient world there is among the various kinds of animals no individual being distinguished from the rest of the same species… all physical, psychical, and vital forces and organs that are possessed by one individual are found also in the other individuals. If any one is somehow different it is by accident, in consequence of some exception, and not by a natural property; it is also a rare occurrence.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.24

“It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.12

“The likeness of man above the throne is divided, the upper part being the colour of chashmal, the lower part like the appearance of fire. As regards the word chashmal, it has been explained to be the compound of two words chas and mal, including two different notions, viz., chash signifying "swiftness," and mal denoting "pause." The two different notions are here joined in one word in order to indicate figuratively the two different parts,—the upper part and the lower. We have already given a second explanation, namely, that chashmal includes the two notions of speach and silence; in accordance with the saying of our Sages, "At times they are silent, at times they speak."”

Sefer Hamitzvot [Book of the Commandments], commentary on Negative Commandment 290, as translated by Charles B. Chavel (1967); also in Defending the Human Spirit : Jewish Law's Vision for a Moral Society (2006) by Warren Goldstein, p. 269

“For how long is it a duty to study the Law? To the day of death.”

Maimónides libro The Guide for the Perplexed

Origine: Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.7

“For that which is without a beginning, a final cause need not be sought.”

Maimónides libro Mishneh Torah

Treatise 3: “The Study of the Torah,” Chapter 1, Section 9, H. Russell, trans. (1983), p. 52
Mishneh Torah (c. 1180)