25 Maimonides Quotes to Enhance Your Wisdom

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published May 8, 2023

As the title suggests, this article offers you the best possible Maimonides quotes.

Going through these quotes can serve as a great source to boost your wisdom.

In addition, we have also discussed the life of Maimonides and its prominent aspects.

So, let’s dive in!

Who was Maimonides?

The real name of Maimonides was Moses ben Maimon.

He was an influential Jewish theologian and philosopher of the 12th century.

Regarding Jewish intellectual history, Maimonides stands among the most popular figures.

His ideas still have a substantial impact on Jewish thoughts.

You might also enjoy these Talmud Quotes!

Birth and Early Life

Maimonides was born in 1135 in Cordoba, Spain.

It was the era of cultural exchange and religious tolerance between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

His ancestors belonged to a group of prominent Jewish intellectuals at that time.

Maimonides was lucky to receive a high-quality education from his father and other scholars in the following disciplines:

Philosophy
Jewish Law
Science

During his childhood, Maimonides was forced to leave Spain with his family.

They eventually settled in Egypt.

Here, Maimonides became a physician.

Within a couple of years, Maimonides rose to respectable stature in the Jewish community.

Key Areas of Work

The work of Maimonides is extensive, as he wrote on a wide range of topics.

A few of these include:

Philosophy
Theology
Law
Medicine

Maimonides’s most prominent and noteworthy work is “Guide for the Perplexed.”

It is a philosophical treatise written to reconcile Judaism’s truths with Greek philosophy.

Maimonides propagates his arguments regarding the two levels of truth such as:

Truths of reason (It is accessible by every human)
Truths of revelation (Only accessible by those who receive divine revelation)

Apart from this, Maimonides also wrote “Mishneh Torah,” which still serves as an essential part of Jewish legal literature.

Below are some of his other literary works that are still popular among the Jews.

The Eight Chapters: This book is a collection of ethical principles and teachings that offer necessary guidance for a virtuous life.
The Book of Commandments: It’s a compilation of 613 commandments found in the Torah with detailed commentary and explanations.
The Regimen of Health: It is a popular book that guides healthy living and includes hygiene, diet, and exercise advice.
The Aphorisms of Maimonides: It is a book containing advice on medical wisdom (Drawn from the experience of Maimonides as a physician).

You will also enjoy our article on Plato quotes.

Top 5 Maimonides Quotes

The collection of top Maimonides quotes is as follows.

1. “One must answer a fool according to his folly.” — Maimonides

2. “When he does one good deed, the scale is tipped to the good.” — Maimonides

3. “One must accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds.” — Maimonides

4. “Your purpose should always be to know what was intended to be known.” — Maimonides

5. “The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.” — Maimonides

Philosophical Maimonides Quotes

Maimonides was a great philosopher. Some of his philosophical quotes are shared below.

6. “Teach thy tongue to say ‘I do not know’, and thou shalt progress.” — Maimonides

7. “A corporeal God would be finite, and an external power would be required to define those limits.” — Maimonides

8. “Inspire me with love for my art and for thy creatures. In the sufferer, let me see only the human being.” — Maimonides

9. “All the evils that men cause to each other because of certain desires, or opinions, or religious principles, are rooted in ignorance.” — Maimonides

10. “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, none drags us along one path or the other. We are responsible for what we are.” — Maimonides

Maimonides Quotes About His Teachings

Maimonides’ teachings in the form of the following quotes are a great source of learning for everyone.

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

12. “Man’s shortcomings and sins are all due to substance of the body and not to its form, while all his merits are exclusively due to his form.” — Maimonides

13. “Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.” — Maimonides

14. “The basic principle is that there is a First Being who brought every existing thing into being, for if it is supposed that he did not exist, then nothing else could possibly exist.” — Maimonides

15. “It is necessary to bear in mind that Scripture only teaches the chief points of those true principles which lead to the true perfection of man and only demands in general terms faith in them.” — Maimonides

Maimonides Quotes About Charity

Discover Maimonides’s inspirational quotes about charity and its impact on both the giver and the receiver.

16. “Anticipate charity by preventing poverty.” — Maimonides

17. “Nobody is ever impoverished through the giving of charity.” — Maimonides

18. “There are eight rungs in charity. The highest is when you help a man to help himself.” — Maimonides

19. “When he does one evil deed, the scale is tipped to the bad – he and the world are destroyed.” — Maimonides

20. “We are obligated to be more scrupulous in fulfilling the commandment of charity than any other positive commandment because charity is the sign of a righteous man.” — Maimonides

Explore Maimonides’ wise and thought-provoking quotes related to health and wellness.

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

22. “The physician must not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it.” — Maimonides

23. “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” — Maimonides

24. “Any urine that turns black is so extremely malignant that I do not know anyone who has micturated black urine and survived.” — Maimonides

25. “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.” — Maimonides