What was lost in the European cataclysm was not only the Jewish past--the whole life of a civilization--but also a major share ofthe Jewish future.... [ellipsis in source] It was not only the intellect of a people in its prime that was excised, but the treasure of a people in its potential.
Cynthia OzickWe have had, alas, and still have, the doubtful habit of reverence. Above all, we respect things as they are.
Cynthia OzickAll politicians know that every 'temporary' political initiative promised as a short-term poultice stays on the books forever.
Cynthia OzickI'm not afraid of facts, I welcome facts but a congeries of facts is not equivalent to an idea. This is the essential fallacy of the so-called "scientific" mind. People who mistake facts for ideas are incomplete thinkers; they are gossips.
Cynthia Ozick