When I'm writing solitude feels very good. But when I'm not writing it feels lonely... Having a big family solves that problem.

In the immemorial style of young men under pressure, they decided to lie down for a while and waste time.

The truth of some promises is not as important as whether or not you can believe in them, with all your heart.

I don't care what is written," Meyer Landsman says. "I don't care what supposedly got promised to some sandal-wearing idiot whose claim to fame is that he was ready to cut his own son's throat for the sake of a hare-brained idea. I don't care about red heifers and patriarchs and locusts. A bunch of old bones in the sand. My homeland is in my hat. It's in my ex-wife's tote bag.

The whole house seemed to exhale a melancholy breath of emptiness

Man makes plans . . . and God laughs.

I thought, I fanced, that in a moment, I would be standing on nothing at all, and for the first time in my life, I needed the wings none of us has.