Isaac Bashevis Singer Quotes

Of course I believe in free will. Do we have a choice?

I believe in God but people are liars. It's those people who say they are appointed by God who I don't believe in.

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.

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.

As much as I can give of myself I give of myself. There's no reason why not. And when I have to hide something, I let the character speak.

One has to trust that God knows how to manage the world.

The analysis of character is the highest human entertainment.

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

No matter how much you know a human being, you don't know him enough.

We all play chess with Fate as partner. He makes a move, we make a move. He tries to checkmate us in three moves, we try to prevent it. We know we can't win, but we're driven to give him a good fight.

God gave us so many emotions, and so many strong ones. Every human being, even if he is an idiot, is a millionaire in emotions.

Literature is the memory of humanity.

If Moses had been paid newspaper rates for the Ten Commandments, he might have written the Two Thousand Commandments.

They still believe in God, the family, angels, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other obsolete stuff.

The more you see what other people do, the more you learn about yourself.

The second half of the twentieth century is a complete flop.

When we're trying to decide whether a leader is a good leader or a bad one, the question to ask is: 'Is he with the Ten Commandments or is he against them?' Then you can determine if the leader is a true messiah or another Stalin.

But if we have people who have the power to tell a story, there will always be readers.

In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought.

Each soul must accomplish its task, or it would not have been sent here.

For those who are willing to make an effort, great miracles and wonderful treasures are in store.

When a day passes, it is no longer there. What remains of it? Nothing more than a story. If stories weren't told or books weren't written, man would live like the beasts, only for the day.

The ghetto was not only a place of refuge for a persecuted minority but a great experiment in peace, in self-discipline and in humanism. As such it still exists and refuses to give up in spite of all the brutality that surrounds it. I was brought up among those people.

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

A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise... Because this is how life is full of surprises.

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.

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

In relation to them (animals), all people are Nazis for the animals, it is an eternal Treblinka.

I believe in free will. I have no choice.

All is foreseen but the choice is given.

Kindness, I've discovered, is everything in life.

In the history of old Jewish literature there was never any basic difference between the poet and the prophet. Our ancient poetry often became law and a way of life.

What do they know-all these scholars, all these philosophers, all the leaders of the world - about such as you? They have convinced themselves that man, the worst transgressor of all the species, is the crown of creation. All other creatures were created merely to provide him with food, pelts, to be tormented, exterminated. In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.

Whenever I'm in trouble, I pray. And because I'm in trouble all of the time, I pray almost constantly.

I am thankful, of course, for the prize and thankful to God for each story, each idea, each word, each day.

I have heard from my father and mother all the answers that faith in God could offer to those who doubt and search for the truth. In our home and in many other homes the eternal questions were more actual than the latest news in the Yiddish newspaper. In spite of all the disenchantments and all my skepticism I believe that the nations can learn much from those Jews, their way of thinking, their way of bringing up children, their finding happiness where others see nothing but misery and humiliation.

If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet... [at least for your own situation. Blind optimism is just as foolish. The solution is a rigorously balanced, rational outlook.]

If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.

Those who run around with women don't walk tightropes. They find it hard enough to crawl on the ground.

Man is a disgusting thing. If you beat him he starts to scream, but if it is the other one who is beaten, then he constructs a theory.

A good writer is basically a story teller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind.

The genuine writer cannot ignore the fact that the family is losing its spiritual foundation.

The Yiddish mentality is not haughty. It does not take victory for granted. It does not demand and command but it muddles through, sneaks by, smuggles itself amidst the powers of destruction, knowing somewhere that God's plan for Creation is still at the very beginning.

There is a plan to this universe. There is a high intelligence, maybe even a purpose, but it's given to us on the installment plan.

The sexual organs are the most sensitive organs of the human being. They are not diplomats. They tell the truth.

Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of nonknowledge.

To be a vegetarian is to disagree - to disagree with the course of things today... starvation, cruelty - we must make a statement against these things. Vegetarianism is my statement. And I think it's a strong one.

The pessimism of the creative person is not decadence but a mighty passion for the redemption of man.