The Jewish people have been in exile for 2,000 years; they have lived in hundreds of countries, spoken hundreds of languages and still they kept their old language, Hebrew. They kept their Aramaic, later their Yiddish; they kept their books; they kept their faith.

It seems that the analysis of character is the highest human entertainment. And literature does it, unlike gossip, without mentioning names.

As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, all men were Nazis.

When the time comes I will go joyfully. Whatever may be there, it will be real, without complication, without ridicule, without deception.

Life is God's novel. Let him write it.

In the half darkness I winked to my other self, my mad dictator, and congratulated him on his droll victory. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth flowing from Shosha's head to my face. What did I have to lose? Nothing more than what everyone loses anyway.

We must believe in free will - we have no choice.