You can take a Jew out of a shtetl, but you cannot take a shtetl out of a Jew.

I will never permit myself to give in to American taste and lower the standards of art.

You see how it is, my dear friends. There's no pleasing everyone. It's hopeless to even try, and the more you play the peacemaker, the less peaceful things become.

I never turn down a drink. Among friends it’s always appropriate. A man is only a man as they say, but brandy is still brandy. You’ll find that in the Talmud too.

One cannot live on potatoes alone. It is said that one wants bread with potatoes. And when there's no bread, a Jew takes his stick, and goes through the village in search of business.

When have you ever heard of a cantor or any artist turning anyone down when he is strongly urged to perform?

A cantor, when he starts singing, it's like rain - once it starts, it's hard to stop.