“The barbed wire that encircled us like a wall did not fill us with real fear. In fact, we felt this was not a bad thing: we were entirely among ourselves. A small Jewish republic…”

“As long as there is a wall, barbed wire and orders to shoot, there can be no talk of normality in Germany.”

“We get used to living one way, even if it's a bad way or a hard one. When that's gone, there's a hole to fill. It's in our nature to try to fill it with anxieties and fears. It can take time to fill it with good things instead.”

“People thought this was a good thing. We would no longer have to look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares. No more fear. No more anguish. We would live entirely among Jews, among brothers…”

“All things that are
Made for our general uses are at war,—
Even we among ourselves.”

“Among the problems with shame was that it in fact did not make you shorter or quieter or less visible. You just felt like you were.”

“The things we hate about ourselves aren't more real than things we like about ourselves.”

“Certainly we were disappointed. But the thing that really kept us in our spirits was that the entire country was behind us.”

“It's easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone in middle school.”

“Real leaders are people who “help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.”