Quote of the Day by Abraham Joshua Heschel: “Life goes awry when controlling the universe… becomes our only concern” | Today’s news
Quote of the Day by Abraham Joshua Heschel: “Life goes awry when controlling the universe… becomes our only concern” – life lessons about time, meaning, simplicity and the dangers of living only for possessions
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s quote, “Life goes awry when mastering the universe, getting things out of the universe, becomes our sole concern,” is a profound warning against reducing life to possession, power, and material control.
The line comes from Heschel’s classic The Sabbath, where he contrasts the world of space — things, possessions, control — with the world of time — being, sharing, rest, meaning, and sacred attention.
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Quote of the day
“Life goes awry when controlling the universe, getting things from the universe, becomes our sole concern.” —Abraham Joshua Heschel
The quote appears in the prologue of The Sabbath, where Heschel writes that there is a realm of time where the goal is not “to have but to be”, “not to own but to give” and “not to control but to share”.
Today’s quote and why it matters
Heschel’s quote is important because it speaks directly to a modern problem: people often measure life by what they own, control, build, buy, or display.
The phrase “cosmic things” refers to the material world—homes, objects, territory, money, possessions, symbols of status, and visible achievements. Heschel does not say that these things are unnecessary. He says the danger begins when they become our only concern.
In today’s world, where success is often measured by acquisition, productivity, and external control, Heschel reminds us that life goes awry when we forget how to simply be.
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The meaning behind the quote
The quote means that material control cannot become the whole meaning of life.
According to Heschel, human beings live in both space and time. The world of space is the world of things. The world of time is a world of meaning, relationships, rest, prayer, memory, and inner life.
The problem begins when life becomes just about getting more space: more possessions, more control, more power, more stuff. When this happens, people can become rich in possessions but poor in spirit.
Simply put, Heschel says: a life built only on having more can forget what it means to be fully alive.
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Life lessons from Abraham Joshua Heschel’s quote
1. Ownership is not the same as meaning
A person can possess many things and still feel empty. Heschel reminds us that meaning comes from mindfulness, gratitude, love, rest, and spiritual depth.
2. Control can become a trap
Trying to be in control can create temporary security, but it can also create anxiety. Life cannot be fully owned, controlled or conquered.
Heschel’s larger argument in The Sabbath is that the Sabbath is a sanctuary in time. Rather than just building temples in space, human beings also need sacred time—moments protected from work, shopping, production, and control.
4. Sharing is higher than ownership
The fuller passage contrasts owning with giving and controlling with sharing. This means that spiritual life begins when people stop treating the world only as something to possess.
5. A meaningful life needs peace
Without peace, people can spend years accumulating things without ever questioning whether their life is whole.
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Who Was Abraham Joshua Heschel?
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Jewish theologian, philosopher, rabbi, poet and social critic. He was born in Warsaw in 1907 and died in New York in 1972. Britannica describes him as a prominent Jewish theologian and philosopher known for representing the prophetic and mystical aspects of Judaism in modern religious thought.
Heschel was also known for his moral and social commitment. The King Institute at Stanford describes him as a Jewish theologian and philosopher whose social consciousness led to involvement in the civil rights movement; Martin Luther King Jr. he considered him one of the greatest prophetic religious voices of his time.
The Influence and Legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel
Heschel’s legacy lies in the way he linked spirituality with moral responsibility. He wrote not only about faith, prayer, and the Sabbath, but also about justice, human dignity, and the responsibility that people have to one another.
This quote reflects one of his central concerns: modern life can become spiritually distorted as human beings seek power over the world but lose respect for life itself.
This is why Sabbath remains such an important work. It asks readers to reclaim the sanctity of time in a civilization obsessed with things.
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Why this quote still connects with modern readers
This quote resonates today because many people are exhausted by the pressure to get more – more money, more status, more possessions, more followers, more productivity, more control.
Heschel’s words offer a remedy. They remind us that life is not just a project of expansion. It is also an invitation to be present.
One can gain the world of space and yet lose the depth of time. That is the warning at the heart of the quote.
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The relevance of the quote in work, relationships and everyday life
At work, Heschel’s quote reminds us that success should not consume the whole self. Productivity has value, but not when it destroys rest, wonder, and relationships.
In relationships, the quote teaches that people are not possessions to be controlled. Love belongs more in the realm of time than space: presence, patience, listening and shared attention.
In everyday life, this quote can become a simple question: Am I living only to gain and control, or am I also creating space to be, give, share and rest?
A final thought
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s quote “Life goes awry when the control of the universe… becomes our only concern” is a timeless lesson about the dangers of material obsession.
He does not reject work, ambition or possessions. He warns against doing everything to them.
Heschel teaches us that a meaningful life is measured not only by what we possess in space, but by what we honor in time: love, rest, prayer, mindfulness, compassion, and the ability to simply be.
