This is an ugly and mean world, and only to spite it we mustn't weep. If you want to know, this is the constant source of my good spirit, of my humor. Not to cry, out of spite, only to laugh out of spite, only to laugh.

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.

A real pleasure is a pleasure that one enjoys by one's self, without a companion, and without a single argument.

No matter how bad things get, you got to go on living, even if it kills you.

Remember, you must not sleep at the Seder. If you do, Elijah the Prophet will come with a bag on his shoulders. On the two first nights of Passover, Elijah the Prophet goes about looking for those who have fallen asleep at the Seder, and takes them away in his bag.

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