Such creatures of accident are we, liable to a thousand deaths before we are born. But once we are here, we may create our own world, if we choose.

There is never a Jewish community without its scholars, but where Jews may not be both intellectuals and Jews, they prefer to remain Jews.

The past was only my cradle, and now it cannot hold me, because I am grown too big.

I have so little mastered the art of tranquil living that wherever I go I trail storm clouds of drama around me.

The apex of my civic pride and personal contentment was reached on the bright September morning when I entered the public school.

You went up to be examined with the other Jewish children, your heart heavy about that matter of your nose.

One current of continuity runs underneath all the abortive phases of my life. From childhood on I have been obliged to drop anything I was doing to run after any man who seemed to know a little more than I did about God . . . I most want to write about: how a modern woman has sought the face of God-not the name nor the fame but the face [ital] of God-and what adventures came to meet her on this ancient human path.