Talk:Martin Buber/I-thou notes

I and thee

From Martin Buber's I and Thou; ISBN: 0684717255; p. 14.

Walter Kaufman translates 'I-Thou' as 'I—You' {better, for english, I-thee as in "with this ring, I thee wed".}.

I-thee sounds unfamiliar. What we are accustomed to is I-Thou. But man's attitudes are manifold, and Thou and You are not the same. Nor is Thou very similar to the German Du {thee}.

German lovers say Du to one another, and so do friends. Du is spontaneous and unpretentious, remote from formality, pomp, and dignity.

What lovers or friends say Thou one another? Thou is scarcely ever said spontaneously.

Thou immediately brings to mind God; Du {thee} does not. And the God of whom it makes us think is not the G-D to whom one might cry out in gratitude, despair, or agony, not the G-D to whom one complains or prays spontaneously: it is the God of the pulpits, the God of the holy tone.

When men pray spontaneously or speak directly to G-D, without any mediator, without any intervention of formulas, when they speak as their heart tells them to speak instead of repeating what is printed, do they say Thou?

Yesselman 15:44, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Complete Relationship

From Martin Buber's I and Thou; ISBN 0684717255; p.127. <Comment on the phrase in Buber--whose work centered around the ideals of religious consciousness, interpersonal relations, and community.>

In the relation to G-D, unconditional exclusiveness and unconditional inclusiveness are one. For those who enter into the absolute relationship, nothing particular retains any importance—neither things nor beings, neither earth nor heaven—but everything is included in the relationship. For entering into the pure relationship does not involve ignoring everything but seeing everything in the thee, not renouncing the world but placing it upon its proper ground. Looking away from the world is no help toward G-D; staring at the world is no help either; but whoever beholds the world in him stands in his presence. "World here, G-D there"—that is It-talk; and "G-D in the world"—that, too, is It-talk; but leaving out nothing, leaving nothing behind, to comprehend all—all the world—in comprehending the the, giving the world its due and truth, to have nothing besides G-D but to grasp everything in him, that is the perfect relationship.

Yesselman 23:28, 10 January 2006 (UTC)