The truth is that what the great religions preached, the Yiddish-speaking people of the ghettos practiced day in and day out. They were the people of The Book in the truest sense of the word. They knew of no greater joy than the study of man and human relations, which they called Torah, Talmud, Mussar, Cabala.

No technological achievements can mitigate the disappointment of modern man, his loneliness, his feeling of inferiority, and his fear of war, revolution and terror. Not only has our generation lost faith in Providence but also in man himself, in his institutions and often in those who are nearest to him.

I am not ashamed to admit that I belong to those who fantasize that literature is capable of bringing new horizons and new perspectives--philosophical, religious, aesthetical and even social.

Night is a time of rigor, but also of mercy. There are truths which one can see only when it’s dark

To me the Yiddish language and the conduct of those who spoke it are identical.

It is a general rule that when the grain of truth cannot be found, men will swallow great helpings of falsehood.

Men want all women to lie down as whores and get up as virgins.