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Maimonides Biography

Moses ben Maimon (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־מַיְמוֹן‬ Mōšeh bēn-Maymōn; Arabic: موسى بن ميمون‎ Mūsā bin Maymūn), commonly known as Maimonides (/maɪˈmɒnɪdiːz/ my-MON-i-deez; Greek: Μαϊμωνίδης Maïmōnídēs; Latin: Moses Maimonides), and also referred to by the acronym Rambam (/ˌrɑːmˈbɑːm/; רמב״ם‬, for R abbeinu M ōšeh b ēn M aimon, "Our Rabbi Moses son of Maimon"), was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician. Born in Córdoba, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain) on Passover Eve, 1135 or 1138, he worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt. He died in Egypt on December 12, 1204, whence his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias.

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Maimonides Quotes

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.

Able, Body, Confused, Person

The more we desire for that which is superfluous, the more we meet with difficulties; our strength and possessions are spent in unnecessary things, and are wanting when required for that which is necessary.

Desire, Difficulty, Superfluous, Things, Unnecessary, Unnecessary Things

The corporeal element in man is a large screen and partition that prevents him from perfectly perceiving abstract ideals; this would be the case even if the corporeal element were as pure and superior as the substance of the spheres ; how much more must this be the case with our dark and opaque body. However great the exertion of our mind may be to comprehend the Divine Being or any of the ideals, we find a screen and partition between God and us.

Dark, God, Large, Men, Mind, Prevents

Every man should view himself as equally balanced: half good and half evil. Likewise, he should see the entire world as half good and half evil. . . . With a single good deed he will tip the scales for himself, and for the entire world, to the side of good.

Balanced, Entire, Evil, Men, Views, World

Contrast the experience with something worse and you cannot help feeling happy and grateful because. . . The change from trouble to comfort gives us more pleasure than uninterrupted comfort does.

Experience, Feeling, Giving, Grateful, Gratitude, Happy

When I have a difficult subject before me - when I find the road narrow, and can see no other way of teaching a well established truth except by pleasing one intelligent man and displeasing ten thousand fools - I prefer to address myself to the one man, and to take no notice whatever of the condemnation of the multitude; I prefer to extricate that intelligent man from his embarrassment and show him the cause of his perplexity, so that he may attain perfection and be at peace.

Teaching, Men, Intelligent, Except, Established, Extricate

What is lofty can be said in any language. What is mean should be said in none.

Language, Lofty, Mean, Said, Should

Just as a person is commanded to honor and revere his father, so he is under an obligation to honor and revere his teacher, even to a greater extent than his father; for his father gave him life in this world, while his teacher instructs him in wisdom, secures for him life in the world to come.

Father, Instructs, Life, Person, Teacher, Teaching

I will destroy my enemies by converting them to friends.

Converting, Destroy, Enemies, Enemy, Friends

If one avoids haughtiness to the utmost extent and is exceedingly humble, he is termed a saint, and this is the standard of saintliness.

Extent, Humble, Humility, Saint, Saintliness, Utmost

You must consider, when reading this treatise, that mental perception, because connected with matter, is subject to conditions similar to those to which physical perception is subject.

Conditions, Matter, Perception, Reading, Treatise

Further, there are things of which the mind understands one part, but remains ignorant of the other; and when man is able to comprehend certain things, it does not follow that he must be able to comprehend everything.

Follow, Ignorant, Man, Men, Mind, Things

The key to the understanding and to the full comprehension of all that the Prophets have said is found in the knowledge of the figures, their general ideas, and the meaning of each word they contain.

Full, Ideas, Keys, Said, Understanding

The goal of good health is to enable a person to acquire wisdom.

Enable, Goal, Good Health, Persons, Wisdom

Divine Providence is connected with Divine intellectual influence, and the same beings which are benefited by the latter so as to become intellectual, and to comprehend things comprehensible to rational beings, are also under the control of Divine Providence, which examines all their deeds with a view of rewarding or punishing them. . . . the method of which our mind is incapable of understanding.

Become, Connected, Intellectual, Understanding, Views

The third class of evils comprise those which everyone causes to himself by his own action. This is the largest class, and is far more numerous than the second class. It is especially of these evils that all men complain, - only few men are found that do not sin against themselves by this kind of evil. . . . This class of evil originates in man's vices, such as excessive desire for eating, drinking, and love; indulgence in these things in undue measure, or in improper manner, or partaking of bad food. This course brings diseases and afflictions upon the body and soul alike.

Afflictions, Class, Drinking, Excessive, Improper, Men

We each decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us. No one decides for us, no one drags us along one path or the other. We are responsible for what we are.

Decide, Ignorant, Path, Responsible

You will see the mercy of God toward His creatures, how He has provided that which is required, in proper proportions, and treated all individual beings of the same species with perfect equality. . . . for it is an act of great and perfect goodness that He gave us existence; and the creation of the controlling faculty in animals is a proof of His mercy towards them, as has been shown by us.

Animal, Creation, Goodness, Mercy Of God, Perfect, Proportions

The Mutakallemim. . . apply the term non-existence only to absolute non-existence, and not to absence of properties. A property and the absence of that property are considered by them as two opposites, they treat, e. g. , blindness and sight, death and life, in the same way as heat and cold. Therefore they say, without any qualification, non-existence does not require any agent, an agent is required when something is produced.

Absolute, Death, Opposites, Require, Sight, Two

All forces that reside in the body are angels.

Angel, Angels, Body, Force, Forces, Reside

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