Lines by Hillel the Elder
Hillel the Elder
הלל הזקן
Jewish sage and teacher · c. 2nd c. BCE–1st c.
Hillel came from Babylonia to Jerusalem and led a school of teachers there around the turn of the era. His sayings in the Pirkei Avot are among the most quoted lines of Jewish ethics.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
אם אין אני לי, מי לי? וכשאני לעצמי, מה אני? ואם לא עכשיו, אימתי?
Pirkei Avot, 1:14
Planet-X translation, 2026 · Source (opens the digitised edition in a new tab)