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I am looking for the source for the following quote

The day you were born was the day Gd decided the universe could no longer exist without you

The greeting card I saw it on said the quote was from the Talmud.

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Apparently, it's attributed to Rabbi Nahman of Breslov:

http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ancient_hebrew_poetry/2009/11/rabbi-nachman-of-breslov-on-election-and-responsibility.html

The Hebrew, from there, is: היום בו נולדת הוא היום בו החליט הקב''ה שהעולם אינו יכול להתקיים בלעדיך.

But unfortunately even with the original Hebrew I can't find an actual source for it in his writings.

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    It is Rebbe Nachman of Breslev zy'a, from an oral tradition. I'll try to find if it's written somewhere. It is most likely in connection with Likutey Moharan I 5, which is based on the Mishnah @AvrohomYitzchok brings below.
    – yoel
    Mar 31, 2013 at 21:13
  • @yoel I actually have it on good authority (my own "oral tradition" from R' Kramer, I suppose) that Rabbeinu za"l (Rebbe Nachman) never said that. I have never seen it in any of the seforim. A quick search of Sefaria also revealed no source, although Sefaria is hardly exhaustive.
    – Yehuda
    Oct 20, 2021 at 18:29
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I think the source is, expressed slightly differently towards the end of Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 where it says,

לפיכך לכל אחד ואחד לומר, בשבילי נברא העולם

“Therefore everyone must say, ‘For my sake, the world was created.’ ”

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The source is from The Lubavitcher Rebbe spoken on several occasions in 1988. The Rebbe instituted the idea of celebrating birthdays with hachlotas tovos giving extra tzedoka, making a birthday celebration and several other directives to inspire oneself spiritualy on their birthday and to carry that inspiration all year.

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    please quote where is it written in Lubavitcher Rebbe books
    – kouty
    Jul 19, 2016 at 14:53
  • Other answers already source this to decades before 1988, so this is wrong.
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 19, 2016 at 19:48
  • @DoubleAA There's been no primary source cited to the other direct answer, and I've actually heard from a scholar that the commonly-assumed source is incorrectly cited. It's entirely possible that it actually was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but a source here would be nice.
    – Yehuda
    Oct 20, 2021 at 18:52

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