"To eat and drink on a festival in the company of your family without providing for the poor and distressed, is not “the joy of the commandment” but the joy of your stomach. It is a disgrace." ~~ Maimonides
"Israel will be redeemed only for Sabbath’s sake. " ~~ Leviticus (Vayikra) R.
"No one that feels a real link with the nation in his heart throughout the ages could imagine the existence of the Jewish people without “Sabbath the Queen”." ~~ Achad Ha’am
"The Sabbath was given for the study of the Torah." ~~ Talmud, Pesikta R. 22
"Who observes the Sabbath is as though he created it." ~~ Mekhilta
"The Sabbath is the Queen of the week." ~~ Talmud, Shabbat 119a
"It was forbidden to break the Sabbath, even when David, king of Israel, died." ~~ Tosefta
"No Sabbath laws apply wherever there is doubt that life is in danger." ~~ Yoma 8:6
"The Sabbaths are for rest and the festivals for joy, not for fasting and weeping and crying." ~~ Maimonides
"A charity pledge may be taken even on Sabbath eve. " ~~ Talmud, Bava Batra
"It is the Sabbath, and one should not weep, for healing is nigh to come." ~~ Talmud, Shabbat
"Great is the Sabbath, since it outweighs all religious precepts." ~~ Midrash Gadol Ugdula