I was born Moishe Ketzelbourd but the Indians call me Maurice Cougar.

I think Jewish history did away with a priesthood when the Temple was destroyed, and it became, supposedly, a religion of scholars. A rabbi is just a scholar.

The funny thing is, nationalism only could have come about in Europe after the invention of printing. You could have this thing that was a book in a vernacular language, and you could imagine there were other readers of this book who you couldn't see, but they were a theoretical union of readers who all use the same language. That is kind of a prerequisite for a national fantasy. You need that thing, and it's a strange thing.

I've wasted the last five years of my life dealing in religious articles. People today find spiritual solace in ballroom dancing.

Goat curry and a female librarian, that's what I'm in the mood for.

I never wore a watch. I always depend on public clocks, and stores have clocks, but that is strange.

A picture story just doesn't run like a film. It doesn't have 24 frames per second. It doesn't deal with this illusion of movement.