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0 pointsnames_are_hard5y ago0 comments

Nitpicking the Hillel quote, the message is correct but to prevent misinformation spreading on the web I feel like correcting. Hillel is quoted in the Mishna[0] as saying,

"If I am not for me, who is for me? If I am for myself, what am I? If not now, when?"[1]

If Hillel said "if not you, then who?" I have not found a source, but I believe this is a common interpretation of his first sentence. Then again, maybe he was talking about self care and not taking responsibility. I don't know.

[0] Avoth 1.14

[1] Translation by me, the wording is terse and open to interpretation so I tried to be faithful to the text and not inject my own interpretation

0 comments

chrisjarvis5y ago

I have no idea thanks for the extra information! it’s a quote I’ve always liked. When I googled who said it Hillel came up.

names_are_hardOP5y ago

Yeah the internet is awesome at mangling and misattributing quotes. The fact that the original is easily found online doesn't help because it's in a foreign language. Fortunately it's pretty rudimentary Hebrew and it doesn't take an expert to understand, just someone who can read the language. Hillel's saying immediately preceding this one is in Aramaic...good luck dropping that in Google Translate :)

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