Erica Brown Quotes & Sayings

If people are not safe, they will not make themselves vulnerable. If they feel too comfortable, they can become complacent or lose their curiosity. They can become intellectually lazy about what matters most. — Erica Brown

I have a principle I often invoke in class: comfortable people don't grow. Good teachers need to engage in the paradox of making students feel comfortable and uncomfortable in equal measure. — Erica Brown

In fact, because I am very time conscious and want to make the most of every moment, I make it a practice to remove my watch before I light the candles as if to suggest that for this brief period, my life must transcend time. — Erica Brown

Teaching is almost like an act of prayer for me. I feel that I am present at the intersection of people and ideas in a very holy way. There are not many places where successful adults can take a break from work or domestic issues and freely and safely explore their inner lives or global issues through an ethical lens. — Erica Brown

In every life there is a challenge. For every challenge that I take on, if I follow through, I accomplish. When I have accomplished, then I have achieved. If I achieve, than I can proudly say I did my job well. — Erica Brown

I love lighting Shabbat candles at the onset of Shabbat. It helps me create a strong and firm demarcation of time. — Erica Brown

If we are indeed created in God's image, then we, too, must create and then we, too, must rest. — Erica Brown

I love going to synagogue on Friday night and being swept in the melodies. Everyone seems more friendly and unburdened by the week and ready to be taken elsewhere. — Erica Brown

I took to religion at about age 12; it was very hard for me to be Sabbath observant as a kid in a home which was not Sabbath observant. I think my parents thought the whole Jewish thing was a phase. — Erica Brown

For me, study is a divine and daily imperative, and I study a page of Talmud daily so that I am not only teaching. My teaching is constantly being fed by my learning. — Erica Brown

I would advise anyone who is at the start of a rest ritual like the Sabbath, to take it slowly and grow incrementally into it. Recognize that it will be hard at first. It's a discipline but then it is a true and deep joy. — Erica Brown