I and Thou

Martin Buber

We relate either by using and analyzing ('I-It') or by genuine encounter ('I-Thou'). Real life, and the meeting with God, happens only in the second.

A philosophical-theological work distinguishing two fundamental modes of relating: 'I-It' (using, categorizing, experiencing) and 'I-Thou' (meeting another whole being in mutual presence), with God as the eternal Thou.