This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Sayings of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot or Pirqe Aboth) NULL
Who is wise? The man who can learn something from every man. Who is strong? The man who overcomes his passion. Who is rich? The man who is content with his fate. Whom do men honor? The man who honors his fellow man.
Character | Fate | Honor | Man | Men | Passion | Wise | Learn |
All the kindness which a man puts out into the world works on the heart and thoughts of mankind, but we are so foolishly indifferent that we are never in earnest in the matter of kindness. We want to topple a great load over, and yet will not avail ourselves of a lever which would multiply our power a hundredfold.
Character | Heart | Kindness | Man | Mankind | Power | Will | World |
Poverty is no disgrace to a man but it is confoundedly inconvenient.
Character | Disgrace | Inconvenient | Man | Poverty |
A miser grows rich by seeming poor; an extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich.
Pinchas Shapiro of Koretz, aka Pinchas or Pinchos of Koretz
Imagine a man was standing before a king. Someone comes along and slaps that person in the face. Out of fear of the king the man will be almost oblivious to the blow. Moreover, he will think to himself, “I can’t retaliate now. The king witnessed what he did tome. If the king approves, nothing I do will help. If the king disapproves of what he did, the king himself will punish that person for what he has done to me.” Similarly we are in the presence of the Almighty and should not reply to insults.
The great man is the man who does a thing for the first time.
Roy L. Smith, aka Mr. Methodist
It is a healthy symptom when a man is dissatisfied without being discouraged.