Advice - Likutey Etzot

Everybody has ideas about the way to live. But as far as the great mass of people are concerned, their ideas are all as bad as each other —they’re all worthless. Don’t pay any attention to their advice. And all the more so, be sure to ignore any guidance offered by wicked people. They are the enemies of truth and the source of everything corrupt an

The prohibition against robbery is very serious because a person who robs another robs him of his very children. Even if the victim does not have any children as yet, the robber can bring it about that he never will have. And if he does have children, the robber can cause him such damage that the children will die, God forbid, as a result of his ha

Depression is the reason why most people are distant from God: when they see the seriousness of the damage they did they become discouraged. Everyone is aware of his own personal pain. Most people give up hope for themselves completely, they pray without any devotion whatsoever and they do not even try to serve God in the ways they used to be able

When a person has true fear of Heaven, he is no longer trapped by the beauty of women. He is free from the attractions of falsehood. He will be saved from poverty and attain wealth

When you speak to God, make it a habit to express the longing and yearning you feel to extricate yourself from evil and attain true

You should always make every effort to search out whatever merit and goodness you can find within the Jewish people. Judge everyone in the scale of merit, even those who oppose you and treat you disrespectfully. If you do this you will never be troubled by opposition and arguments. When you seek out the merit of your fellow Jew, you make a precious

Therefore you must marshal all your strength and steel yourself to make a vigorous beginning. Start again every time with new fire and passion for God. Start as if you had never begun at all before. The strength of your new beginning will bring power and vigor into all your devotions. You should always ask yourself if the start was as it should hav

you should seclude yourself as much as you can to pray and speak to God. Take a good look at yourself and make a reckoning. What are you doing with your life? How is your time spent? Is this the right way to spend your life — to behave as you do before the Holy One, blessed-be-He, who bestows goodness upon you every moment of the day? Weigh all the

A person must be at peace with himself. It is no good if the different aspects of his character are in conflict with one another. He must also achieve harmony in his relationships with the outside world. Regardless of whether things are good or bad, he must always look for God in whatever happens to him. He should not allow himself to be thrown off