Late one night, two hours into an audience with the Rebbe, the Israeli diplomat Yehuda Avner asked, “Rebbe, what is it that you seek to accomplish?”

“Yehuda,” said the Rebbe, “look there, on the shelf. What do you see?”

“A candle,” he replied.

“No, it’s not a candle; it’s just a lump of wax with a string down the middle. When does this lump of wax become a candle? When you bring a flame to the wick.”

His voice rising, the Rebbe continued in a Talmudic sing-song: “The wax is the body of the human being, and the wick is the soul. The flame is the fire of Torah.

“When the soul is ignited by the flame of Torah, that’s when the person becomes a candle, achieving the purpose for which he was created.

“This is what I try to do—to help every man and woman achieve the purpose for which they were created.”

An hour later, with the sun about to rise and the meeting drawing to a close, Avner asked, “So has the Rebbe lit my candle?”

“No,” answered the Rebbe quietly.

“I have given you the match. Only you can light your own candle.”1

The Rebbe would often cite a teaching of the Mishnah,2 “Hamaaseh hu ha’ikar,” which means that the essential thing is the deed, not abstract study. Otherwise, teachings and words, no matter how beautiful, wise, or aesthetic, are devarim beteilim, “empty talk,” and their power to move and inspire action is wasted.

Spiritual teachings, no matter how inspiring or wise they are, must never be allowed to remain in the realm of thought alone. Truth seeks tangible expression in the world and in our lives.

Books, like candles, are exceptional and essential tools for illuminating our lives and our world, at least in potential. But every book needs a reader to open it and act on the ideas within for its light to enter the world. Similarly, words and ideas also contain great power to motivate and transform people—but only if they are internalized and taken seriously enough to be acted upon. If a word remains inert on a page or trapped inside our heads, it is as bright as an unlit candle. Its true illuminating potential is only fulfilled when it is taken deeply into the core of our very being.

Essentially, this collection of principles and practices on purpose is a book of matches.

But remember: Only you can light your own candle.

In the end, this book’s success depends on how well you integrate its wisdom into your life, thereby shining your unique light into the world.

It is my sincere prayer that each of you, in your own way, is ignited by these teachings, bringing them into your lives and relationships through continued reflection, passionate conversation, and practical action. May we all merit to see the infinite light and Divine goodness radiating out from within ourselves, within each other, and within the world, always and forever!