Maimonides Biography Quotes 24 Report mistakes

Origins and Early Study
Moses ben Maimon, known to Jewish tradition by the acronym Rambam and widely in the broader world as Maimonides, was born in Cordoba in al-Andalus, then under shifting Muslim dynasties, in the mid-12th century (commonly dated to 1138). He was raised in a learned household. His father, Maimon ben Joseph, was a judge and scholar who guided his son through Bible, Talmud, and the sciences that flourished in Andalusian culture. From an early age Moses combined classical rabbinic study with rigorous attention to mathematics, astronomy, logic, and medicine. The Almohad conquest of Cordoba in 1148 disrupted Jewish life with pressures that led many families, including his own, to leave. The period of flight shaped his later writings on religious steadfastness under duress and the obligations of communities in times of persecution.

Exile and Formation in the Maghreb
After leaving al-Andalus, the family lived for a time in Morocco, with Fez as a likely base during the 1160s. In this milieu Maimonides composed portions of his Commentary on the Mishnah in Judeo-Arabic, a work he would complete later. He addressed the traumatic realities faced by Iberian Jews under Almohad rule in his Epistle on Forced Conversion, setting out a compassionate and practical path for those compelled to outwardly conform. In these years he absorbed the philosophical legacy of Aristotle as mediated by Muslim thinkers such as al-Farabi and Avicenna, and he was aware of the work of the great Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes), a near contemporary from Cordoba. Their shared project of reconciling reason with revealed tradition formed the intellectual horizon against which Maimonides would craft his own synthesis.

Arrival in the Eastern Mediterranean and Settlement in Egypt
Around 1165 Maimonides journeyed east, passing through the Holy Land, and then settled in Fustat (Old Cairo), Egypt, which became his permanent home. There, the family suffered a devastating blow: his younger brother, David ben Maimon, a merchant who supported the household, died in a shipwreck. Maimonides later recalled the grief and financial crisis that followed; it was in the wake of this loss that he undertook medicine as a profession. His medical training, combined with a reputation for judgment and learning, drew him into service at the Ayyubid court. He attended the powerful vizier al-Qadi al-Fadil and members of the household of Salah al-Din (Saladin), balancing court duties with care for large numbers of patients who came to him daily in Fustat.

Legal Codification and Communal Leadership
In Egypt Maimonides emerged as the foremost jurist of his generation. His Mishneh Torah, completed in the 1170s, presented the totality of Jewish law in lucid Hebrew, organized systematically from principles of faith and ethics to civil, ritual, and judicial law. The work aimed to make the law accessible without constant recourse to the Talmud, a bold goal that brought him admiration and resistance. The eminent Provençal scholar Abraham ben David of Posquieres (the Ravad) appended critical glosses, inaugurating a long tradition of engagement with Maimonides that combined sharp critique with deep respect. Beyond writing, Maimonides served as head of the Jewish community of Egypt (Nagid), a role that demanded diplomacy among diverse groups, including Rabbanites and Karaites. He issued responsa across the Mediterranean, adjudicated disputes, and guided communities through crises.

Philosophy and The Guide for the Perplexed
Maimonides addressed the relationship between reason and revelation most fully in The Guide for the Perplexed, composed in Judeo-Arabic for a devoted student, Joseph ben Judah. He sought to rescue the philosophically trained believer from confusion by harmonizing Scripture and Aristotelian science. Central to his project was a rigorous negative theology: God can only be described by negations and by acts, never by positive attributes that would imply limitation. Anthropomorphic language in the Bible must be read metaphorically, a strategy he deployed to defend divine unity and incorporeality. On creation, he argued that the eternity of the world had not been demonstrated, and therefore upheld creation ex nihilo as the foundation of Torah. Prophecy, in his account, involves perfected intellect and imagination under divine overflow, with Moses as the unique prophet whose intellect united with truth without imaginative distortion. These teachings were transmitted beyond Arabic readers through the Hebrew translation of Samuel ibn Tibbon, who corresponded with Maimonides for guidance on terminology; a later translation by Judah al-Harizi broadened the work's reach and helped spark debates that would continue long after Maimonides's death.

Biblical Interpretation and Principles of Faith
Alongside his Commentary on the Mishnah, Maimonides wrote programmatic introductions that shaped Jewish creed and ethics. In his introduction to tractate Sanhedrin, he articulated Thirteen Principles of Faith, outlining convictions about God, prophecy, Torah, and reward and punishment that became a touchstone for later liturgy and education. In the Eight Chapters, his philosophical prologue to Ethics of the Fathers, he integrated Aristotelian virtue ethics with rabbinic ideals, recommending the golden mean and disciplined habituation as the path to moral and spiritual excellence.

Medicine and the Sciences
Maimonides became one of the most cited physicians of the medieval Islamic world. His medical works, written in Arabic, include the Medical Aphorisms of Moses (a wide-ranging digest of earlier authorities), treatises on asthma, hemorrhoids, poisons and their antidotes, and a Regimen of Health composed for a prominent patron at court. He insisted on clinical observation, moderation in diet and lifestyle, and attention to mental well-being. His medical writings draw on Hippocrates and Galen, but they exhibit a critical spirit, preferring reasoned experience over untested authority. Letters from the period, including one to Samuel ibn Tibbon, describe an exhausting daily routine: early attendance at court, long hours treating the poor who thronged his home, and scholarly work reserved for late at night.

Correspondence, Influence, and Controversy
Maimonides's pen connected him with communities from North Africa to Provence and Yemen. His Epistle to Yemen, addressed to Jacob ben Netanel al-Fayyumi, offered encouragement to a persecuted community and refuted claims of a false messiah. He also wrote pastoral letters, such as guidance to Ovadia the convert, articulating an inclusive vision of communal belonging. Within rabbinic circles, the concision and authority of the Mishneh Torah raised questions about method and sources; Ravad's glosses became a model of learned dissent. Philosophically, contemporaries debated the limits of allegorical interpretation and the role of secular learning in religious life. While Ibn Rushd worked on parallel problems in the Aristotelian tradition, Maimonides's distinctly rabbinic commitments gave his synthesis a different contour, one that would later be read by Christian scholastics and Jewish thinkers alike.

Family and Succession
Amid these labors, Maimonides maintained a household and a circle of students. His son, Abraham ben Moses, himself a distinguished scholar and pietist, succeeded him as Nagid of the Egyptian Jewish community and continued his father's leadership and literary legacy. The memory of David ben Maimon, whose death had altered the family's fortunes, remained a quiet thread in Maimonides's self-understanding, as did the example of his father, Maimon ben Joseph, whose learning and resilience set the pattern for a life of service.

Final Years and Legacy
Maimonides died in 1204 in Fustat. According to later tradition, his remains were brought to Tiberias for burial, a sign of the deep affection in which he was held across lands. In the generations that followed, his code became a central pillar of halakhic study; his Guide shaped Jewish philosophy and reached into Arabic and Latin intellectual circles; and his medical writings remained in use for centuries. Around him stood patrons such as al-Qadi al-Fadil, correspondents like Samuel ibn Tibbon and Jacob ben Netanel, a devoted disciple in Joseph ben Judah, a critical interlocutor in Ravad, and family who carried forward his work. Out of exile, communal leadership, and relentless study, Maimonides forged a synthesis of law, philosophy, and medicine that would define his name for the ages.

Our collection contains 24 quotes who is written by Maimonides, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Wisdom - Truth - Learning - Faith.

Other people realated to Maimonides: Baruch Spinoza (Philosopher)