Ibn Ezra Quotes & Sayings

There is none more lonely than the man who loves only himself. — Abraham Ibn Ezra

Who ignores the time walks in darkness, and who explores it is illumined by a great light. — Moses Ibn Ezra

Dive into the sea of thought, and find there pearls beyond price. — Moses Ibn Ezra

Beware the man who has two faces and two hearts. — Moses Ibn Ezra

Love blinds us to faults, hatred to virtues. — Moses Ibn Ezra

Bitter is wine, but it sweetens all bitterness. — Moses Ibn Ezra

The twelfth-century poet Abraham ibn Ezra, whom you encountered in high school as Browning's Rabbi ben Ezra (may his tribe increase), limpidly described the shlimazl's lot when he wrote: If I sold lamps, The sun, In spite, Would shine at night. — Leo Rosten

The man who persists in knocking will succeed in entering. — Moses Ibn Ezra

I went out into the garden in the morning dusk, When sorrow enveloped me like a cloud; And the breeze brought to my nostril the odor of spices, As balm of healing for a sick soul. — Moses Ibn Ezra

This is Zemzem near Mecca. According to this, however, Hagar headed into the Arabian Peninsula rather than toward Egypt. — Abraham Meir Ben Ibn Ezra

There is no one so lonely than a man who loves only himself. — Abraham Ibn Ezra

One notorious apikoros named Hiwa al-Balkhi, writing in ninth-century Persia, offered two hundred awkward questions to the faithful. He drew upon himself the usual thunderous curses - 'may his name be forgotten, may his bones be worn to nothing' - along with detailed refutations and denunciations by Abraham ibn Ezra and others. These exciting anathemas, of course, ensured that his worrying 'questions' would remain current for as long as the Orthodox commentaries would be read. In this way, rather as when Maimonides says that the Messiah will come but that 'he may tarry,' Jewishness contrives irony at its own expense. If there is one characteristic of Jews that I admire, it is that irony is seldom if ever wasted on them. — Christopher Hitchens

A book is a most delightful companion. It gives, and does not take. — Moses Ibn Ezra

A proverb has three characteristics: few words, good sense, and a fine image. — Moses Ibn Ezra

Lust should be stifled, for it cannot lead to truth. — Moses Ibn Ezra

How can you expect me to be perfect ... when I am full of contradictions. — Abraham Ibn Ezra

Wisdom is to the soul as food is to the body. — Abraham Ibn Ezra

Sorrow shatters my heart; And men distress it with blame, Because it follows love. — Moses Ibn Ezra

Words are like bodies; meanings are like souls. — Moses Ibn Ezra