[ Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac] was the greatest commentator [of the Bible] we ever had.

Our obligation is to give meaning to life and in doing so to overcome the passive, indifferent life.

Except if it has some historical meaning for them to have Tibet under their control. I don't understand why [ Chinese] want it so much.

The Bible is interpreted by the Talmud. Except, in Rabbinic tradition, a Talmudic law has the weight of the Biblical law. Sometimes we say in a prayer, "Blessed are Thou, O God, who has ordered us and commended us," to do something. But you don't find that "something" in the Bible; you find it in the Talmud. So Talmudic law becomes as important as Biblical law.

Writers write because they cannot allow the characters that inhabit them to suffocate them. These characters want to get out, to breathe fresh air and partake of the wine of friendship; were they to remain locked in, they would forcibly break down the walls. It is they who force the writer to tell their stories.

I learned to trust the threats of enemies before the promises of friends.

[Moses] Mendelssohn was a religious Jew. I felt sorry for him.