God in heaven sits on high and plays games with us. He has plenty to do up there, what with building worlds and then knocking them down again, breaking things up and then rebuilding them, and yet he can manage to put his mind even to a little grocer in his shop or to a babe in the cradle.
Shmuel Yosef AgnonIf we eat any food, or drink any beverage, we must recite a blessing over them before and after.
Shmuel Yosef AgnonIt is not enough for a man to dwell in the Land of Israel, he must also pray to be free.
Shmuel Yosef AgnonAs a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile.
Shmuel Yosef AgnonOn everything you need to hear other people's opinions. It's the only way to do things. You ask a friend's advice and then between the two of you things somehow get clearer.
Shmuel Yosef AgnonWho were my mentors in poetry and literature? This is a matter of opinion. Some see in my books the influences of authors whose names, in my ignorance, I have not even heard, while others see the influences of poets whose names I have heard but whose writings I have not read. And what is my opinion? From whom did I receive nurture? Not every man remembers the name of the cow which supplied him with each drop of milk he has drunk.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon