“One can find in the Yiddish tongue and in the Yiddish spirit expressions of pious joy, lust for life, longing for the Messiah, patience and deep appreciation of human individuality. There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for every day of life, every crumb of success, each encounter of love. The Yiddish mentality is not haughty. It does not take victory for granted. It does not demand and command but it muddles through, sneaks by, smuggles itself amidst the powers of destruction, knowing somewhere that God's plan for Creation is still at the very beginning.”
Nobel lecture (1978)
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Isaac Bashevis Singer 39
Polish-born Jewish-American author 1902–1991Related quotes
The New York Times (26 November 1978)
"Prayer of Ephrem" as translated in The Lenten Triodion (1978) by Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware, p. 69
Variant translations:
O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power and idle talk, but give to me, your servant, a spirit of soberness, humility, patience and love. O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother: for you are blessed for ever and ever. Amen. O God, cleanse me, a sinner.
As translated in Who's Holding the Umbrella (1984) by William E. Yaeger, p. 70
Context: O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power and idle talk, but give to me, Thy servant, a spirit of soberness, humility, patience and love. O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother: for blessed art Thou to the ages of ages. Amen. O God, cleanse me, a sinner.
“A life by choice is one that is filled with love, happiness, and an appreciation of each day.”
Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 78
On the doctrine of prefiguration.
Persons or Figures (1950)
Jede Äußerung menschlichen Geisteslebens kann als eine Art der Sprache aufgefaßt werden, und diese Auffassung erschließt nach Art einer wahrhaften Methode überall neue Fragestellungen.
"On Language as Such and on the Language of Man" (1916), translated by E. Jephcott, in Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, Vol. 1 (1996), p. 62
“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”
“A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation and does not demand it of his subordinates.”
Variant: The expert in battle seeks his victory from strategic advantage and does not demand it from his men.
Source: The Art of War, Chapter V · Forces