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The comprehension of God taken as a participation in his sacred life, an allegedly direct comprehension, is impossible, because participation is a denial of the divine, and because nothing is more direct than the face to face, which is straightforwardness itself.

— Emmanuel Levinas Totality and Infinity (1961)

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More quotes by Emmanuel Levinas

Fear for the Other, fear for the other man's death is my fear, but is in no way an individual's taking fright.

To ignore the true God is in fact only half an evil; atheism is worth more than the piety bestowed on mythical gods.

A Religion for Adults (1957)

The peace of empires issued from war rests on war. It does not restore to the alienated beings their lost identity.

Totality and Infinity (1961)

The detour to ideality leads to coinciding with oneself, that is, to certainty, which remains the guide and guarantee of the whole spiritual adventure of being.

The ego involved in responsibility is me and no one else, me with whom one whould have liked to pair up a sister soul, from whom one would have substitution and sacrifice.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Emmanuel Levinas (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.