Q0358

Martin Buber

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Man becomes an I through a You.
Thinker Martin Buber
School Dialogical philosophy
Source I and Thou
Theme Self
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with I and Thou, within the tradition of Dialogical philosophy. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of self, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Martin Buber's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Martin Buber. (n.d.). Man becomes an I through a You. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0358

MLA: Martin Buber. “Man becomes an I through a You..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0358.

Chicago: Martin Buber. “Man becomes an I through a You..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0358.

Same thinker

More from Martin Buber

  1. All real living is meeting.

All quotations by Martin Buber

Same theme

More on self

  1. A friend is another self.
  2. A person's character is their destiny.
  3. I searched for myself.
  4. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
  5. Claim yourself for yourself.

Browse the self theme