by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

                To find a remedy for this terrible situation [of damaged deeds], for such a disease, which consumes the two extremities of life, so that at the core it is parched, we must strive as much as possible to guard [our] deeds, to love them and reinforce them to the extent that we can—but not to be satisfied with that.
                We will not gain anything in our effort if we do not commingle with the elevation of [our] deeds the return to the soaring idea that is stored and hidden in them.
                When actions remain “commandment of men learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13), not only are they unhelpful, but they will diminish the idea even more.
                And in the end, the diminishment of the idea will conclude in [the person] annulling [his] deeds with disgust.
Shemonah Kevatzim I 8

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

                When we damage ideas, when we distance ourselves—as a result of immersing [ourselves] in the smallness of routine life—from the elevation of supernal thoughts, which create deeds that are great and contain hidden within themselves powerful Godliness, [those] deeds become damaged.
                Their level sinks and their glory is dimmed, until they are revealed in an unruly form that arouses irritation and blankness, whereas before [the deeds’] natural clothing was might and glory.
                And when the deeds are damaged, ideas grow distant, until they become a sort of weak thought, which arouses the disdain of every man of action, because it is so far from life and has so little strength to affect [life].
Shemonah Kevatzim I 7

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

                We aspire [to attain] the supernal goal and, correspondingly, to hold onto the practical foundation. The practical burden waits [to receive] the full power [it needs, which will occur] when the ideal light is revealed in it and through it.
                But with that, the [burden] may, over the course of time, because of the stumbling of the nation, become too much. Then we will seek proper solutions that are in keeping with the spirit of the soul of the nation itself [and] in keeping with the way of the Torah in its fullness, in order to ease the weight in such a way that this necessary alleviation will not for even a moment cause any lack of the spiritual image in the actions [expressing the nation’s] aspiration.
Shemonah Kevatzim I 6

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

                Sometimes, life stumbles in its course and lacks the strength to proceed with spiritual images. Then the spirit is too weary to bring them into deeds.
                Then confusion is born and viewpoints divide.
                Those who have a hardy spirit say: life is liable to illness, but it is also liable to return to complete health, and whatever is joined to life is secure.
                Therefore, we will not abandon the banner: the precious ideals that are hidden in the hiding place of deeds. They will necessarily come to light, precisely as a result of having been crystallized into actions. But they are not yet completed. [These] actions have not yet attained their goal, when we will be able to say that they have completed their work.
                They must illuminate the entire darkness of life. But [that] darkness is still great and extremely vast.
                Therefore, we will not abandon the banner. We will carry and bear [it]. With actual deeds, we will give form to the great thought of the spirit of Israel, just as the nation has begun doing since the time that it began to see its collective life.
                And if the burden is heavier now than it was in previous days, it is worthwhile bearing the yoke for the sake of the goal.
                We have left behind the circle of nations, children with capricious minds, who grow tired of serious actions that do not bring immediate gratification. We are blessed with knowledge and a fullness of personal feeling, so that we know how to live and how to carry with a calm heart and mighty will the yoke of life for the sake of a worthy goal. Although it is still hidden, in the end it will be revealed.
Shemonah Kevatzim I 5

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

                And [our] actions are the physical basis, the tangible element, in which this great theory [of the primacy of Torah understanding] places its treasures. And the more [our] theoretical understanding grows in the greatness of its value, the more the light that is hidden in all [of our] actions shines in the nation. And [then] the trait of beautiful harmony within practical Judaism is revealed in its strength for [the sake of] God.
Shemonah Kevatzim I 4

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

               In the totality of the written and transmitted Torah and in the weaving together of all of its particulars is hidden the highest and most essential spiritual form [created by] the desire of the nation, from the aspect of the goal of its highest [level of] life. That form shines—in the totality of its comprehension and breadth, of its logic, of the styles of its declamation, of the outcomes of its perspectives—on existence, on Godliness, on the world, on humanity, on the individual, on society, on good and on evil, and on life and on death.
                The more that Torah understanding and recognition is manifest in the nation, the more is its soul within it well-founded, and its power of life rises up and grows splendidly strong.
Shemonah Kevatzim I 3

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

               We live with the spiritual images that exist in the aspirations of the nation’s soul.
                Wherever these sparks of light are hidden, we are connected to [that light], with the connection of the soul of life of all of our being—whether that is a literal place, a site on earth, whether it consists of actions, in whose foundation these images are hidden, or whether it consists of thoughts and ideas of whatever sort they may be.
 
                If a person comes to cut down these elements, to diminish their power, their honor and their importance to us, he diminishes the richness of our lives, and we must rise up against him with all of our might.
      Shemonah Kevatzim I 1-2

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

           I listen and I hear from the midst of the depths of my soul, from the midst of the feelings of my heart, the voice of God calling. And I tremble exceedingly:
            Have I descended so much that I have become a false prophet, saying that Hashem sent me, although the word of God has not been revealed to me?
            I hear  the voice of my soul moan: wild tufts of prophecies sprout up and the sons of the prophets awaken; the spirit of prophecy soars throughout the land, it seeks a place of refuge, it searches for mighty people filled with strength and holiness. They will know how to weigh matters, they will tell the truth as it actually is, they will tell how the word of Hashem appeared to them, they will not lie and will not attempt to please, they will express their spirit faithfully.
            And a spirit of faith more precious than wealth will lift the nation, and Israel will stand on its feet, it will begin to feel its special nature as from the earliest days, it will know that the pen did not inscribe falsehood, that pride did not clothe itself in falsehood.
            Even when the multitude of nations considered [Israel] to be contemptible, an abhorrent nation, it had an eternal, special quality.
            It has always yearned for its refuge, and its refuge is the Godly refuge, the refuge of all wisdom, of all wholeheartedness and honesty.
            Even if the tradition in its many garments has not revealed the splendor of its beauty, the spirit of prophecy will come, and as it begins on its way it will clarify that which is within its heart in a clear language. And the clear language will strike waves, it will give might to the downtrodden. And Israel will know with the spirit of God upon it the supernal, special quality of God that it possesses, which will be revealed to it only in its land, and from afar it will recall what it had forgotten. It will recall that it possesses a very precious land that lies broad before it, and an eternal pride before all nations.
            And Jacob will lift his feet. And families, one at a time, will gather together, and the desolate land will be built, and the spirit of Hashem upon [Israel] will begin to pulse in its offspring who had been cast away. And from darkness and out of blackness, the eyes of the blind will see.

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

            It is impossible for me to abandon literature, the craft of thought and its expressions.
            I cannot excuse myself from that soulful work, which is so deeply lodged in my spirit. Despite all of the barriers that I meet in the course of my thoughts and the events of my life, I am forced to return to literature and to engage in its work.
            I must find the topics destined for me, those points of truth prepared for me to reveal, which are always founded upon the value of holiness: holiness in the individual life and in communal life, holiness in deeds, holiness in feelings and holiness in thoughts, holiness in the progress of the society and in the progress of the individual, the holiness in the national revival in all of its hues.
            When I speak of matters of holiness, I speak from my essence, from the entire yearning of my life, and that is the sign to myself that this point, the point of holiness, provides the central all of my thoughts. And in it, and only in it, will I speak and gain satisfaction.

by Rav Kook

​            At times, I worry that something that comes into my mind at present is not something new, and everyone already knows it, and I myself have contemplated it, and perhaps also wrote about it.
            And as a result the new insight grows cheapened, and not appreciated properly as spiritual pearls that come from the drops of the garden of Eden of the soul.
            In order to protect ourselves against this failing, we must know that it is not possible that any idea that blossoms in the soul is exactly equal to an idea that already blossomed in the past. The buds are different in their character.
            In the physical world too, nothing is literally the same as its equivalent, and so how much more in the spiritual world.
            And so at every time and moment that a new thought flashes into an idea, we must appreciate it and know that this is a new vision, which never before appeared in the world, and receive it joyfully, with humility and holiness, with might and harmony and an abundance of peace.
Chadarav, p. 73