“One should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds.”
Maimonides · Jewish philosophy
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Maimonides
1138–1204 · Jewish philosophy · Medieval
Moses ben Maimon, Rambam, known as Maimonides, was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher born in Cordoba in 1138. Exile took him through Fez to Egypt, where he died in 1204. He wrote law and philosophy at full scale. The Mishneh Torah organises Jewish law, including the ladder of charity in which the highest gift is the one that restores a person's independence.
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The Guide of the Perplexed, written in Arabic, addresses a reader troubled by the clash between scripture and Aristotelian science. It begins by repairing words, especially the claim that humans are in God's image, which he refuses to read as bodily shape. He argues that the intellect has limits, as the senses do, and that failing to know what lies beyond them is not a personal fault.
He also insists that a true claim should be heard from whoever says it, which is how he justifies learning from Greek and Arabic philosophy. English lines from him are often paraphrases of legal or lexical arguments. The paraphrases are marked. The works are not thin.
Four sourced passages are included, from the Eight Chapters, the laws on charity, and the opening of the Guide. Further familiar lines are omitted where the wording or locus is not secure. A fifth English sentence from the Guide would be a paraphrase of a chapter presented as a line he did not detach.
Start here
Guide of the Perplexed, part 1, chapters 1 and 31, in Pines
Chapter 1 shows the method on a single word. Chapter 31 shows the limit of the intellect. Both are better than a loose proverb.
Quotations
“The highest degree of charity is to strengthen a person until he no longer needs to depend on others.”
Maimonides · Jewish philosophy
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“The intellect is limited, and a person is not at fault for failing to know what lies beyond it.”
Maimonides · Jewish philosophy
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“People have thought that in Hebrew 'image' means shape, and that is the root of a serious confusion about God.”
Maimonides · Jewish philosophy
knowledgemeaningmind
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Key ideas
Truth from any source
A claim is not true because it is ours or false because it is theirs, so origin is not a test of truth.
Image is not shape
The Hebrew word for image does not mean bodily form, and reading it that way produces a serious confusion about God.
Charity as independence
The highest form of support is a gift, loan, partnership, or job that ends dependence, and lower gifts still count.
Major works
Guide of the Perplexed (c. 1190)
Arabic philosophical theology for the perplexed reader. Pines's English is the scholarly standard.
Mishneh Torah (c. 1170–1180)
A law code. The eight degrees of charity are in the laws on gifts to the poor.
Eight Chapters (c. 1160s)
Ethical psychology on the commentary to Avot, where he defends learning from the philosophers.
Influences
- Aristotle
- Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)
- al-Farabi
Influenced
Common misreadings
- Accept the truth from any source means all ideas are equal.
- The highest charity is a ban on relief that does not yet make someone independent.
Famous lines Maimonides never said
None of the lines this library files for Maimonides is marked Questionable or Misattributed. That is only a fact about these cards. It is not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.
FAQ
What is the best book to start with?
Guide of the Perplexed, part 1, chapters 1 and 31, in Pines Chapter 1 shows the method on a single word. Chapter 31 shows the limit of the intellect. Both are better than a loose proverb.
What is the most famous quote?
This library does not measure fame, and it does not rank lines by how often they are shared. The first line it files for Maimonides that is not marked Questionable or Misattributed is “One should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds.” (Introduction to the Eight Chapters (on the Commentary to Avot), Paraphrase or translation).
What is the most misquoted line?
None of the lines this library files for Maimonides is marked Misattributed or Questionable. That is a fact about these cards, not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.
What is one key idea, in a sentence?
Truth from any source: A claim is not true because it is ours or false because it is theirs, so origin is not a test of truth.