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Isaac Bashevis Singer

Isaac Bashevis Singer Quotes

Author

Isaac Bashevis Singer, born on November 21, 1902 in Poland and died on July 24, 1991, was an outstanding Jewish American author. His works are renowned for their vivid portrayal of the lives and experiences of Eastern European Jews, and he has won widespread acclaim for his unique narrative style and profound humanistic concerns.

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Famous Isaac Bashevis Singer Quotes

“A soldier who serves an emperor has to have a uniform, and this also applies to a soldier who serves the Almighty.”

Religion Yiddish Yiddish Literature

Book:The Penitent

Source: The Penitent

“What concrete steps can I take now?" I asked the voice, and it replied: "Go to a house of prayer and pray." "Without faith?" I countered, and the voice said: "You have more faith than you know.”

Yiddish Yiddish Literature

Book:The Penitent

Source: The Penitent

“His eyes reflected a softness I had already forgotten in America.”

Yiddish Yiddish Literature

Book:The Penitent

Source: The Penitent

“Where do the wheels of history lead? How can you be so sure that the wheels of history won't get bogged down in blood and marrow again?”

History Yiddish Yiddish Literature

Book:The Penitent

Source: The Penitent

“I have heard from my father and mother all the answers that faith in God could offer to those who doubt and search for the truth. In our home and in many other homes the eternal questions were more actual than the latest news in the Yiddish newspaper. In spite of all the disenchantments and all my skepticism I believe that the nations can learn much from those Jews, their way of thinking, their way of bringing up children, their finding happiness where others see nothing but misery and humiliation.”

Source: Aspects of I.B. Singer

“It is a fact that the classics of Yiddish literature are also the classics of the modern Hebrew literature.”

Facts Literature Modern Hebrew Yiddish

Book:Aspects of I.B. Singer

Source: Aspects of I.B. Singer

“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.”

Humans Joy Spirit Expression Longing Individuality Appreciation Tongue Lust Long Life Pious Messiah Yiddish Lust For Life

Author:Isaac Bashevis Singer

“The truth is that what the great religions preached, the Yiddish-speaking people of the ghettos practiced day in and day out. They were the people of The Book in the truest sense of the word. They knew of no greater joy than the study of man and human relations, which they called Torah, Talmud, Mussar, Cabala.”

People Men Humans Book Joy Study Greater Truth Is Relation Ghetto Truest Human Relations Torah Yiddish

Book:Aspects of I.B. Singer

Source: Aspects of I.B. Singer

“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.”

Doe Stills Knowing Plans Creation Victory Demand Destruction Command Granted Mentality Sneak God's Plan Haughty Muddle Yiddish

Book:Aspects of I.B. Singer

Source: Aspects of I.B. Singer

“To me the Yiddish language and the conduct of those who spoke it are identical.”

Language Spokes Identical Yiddish

Book:Aspects of I.B. Singer

Source: Aspects of I.B. Singer

“There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for every day of life, every crumb of success, each encounter of love... In a figurative way, Yiddish is the wise and humble language of us all, the idiom of a frightened and hopeful humanity.”

Way Humanity Language Wise Gratitude Quiet Humble Encounters Hopeful Frightened Crumbs Idiom Yiddish

Book:Aspects of I.B. Singer

Source: Aspects of I.B. Singer

“The Jewish people have been in exile for 2,000 years; they have lived in hundreds of countries, spoken hundreds of languages and still they kept their old language, Hebrew. They kept their Aramaic, later their Yiddish; they kept their books; they kept their faith.”

People Years Has Beens Stills Book Country Language Exile Hebrew Yiddish

Author:Isaac Bashevis Singer

About the Author

Born: November 21, 1902
Died: July 24, 1991
Known for: Author
Quotes: 156

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Literature Men Ifs Vegetarianism Animal Writing Humans Vegetarian Yiddish People Vegan Animal Rights Believe Creatures Giving Vegan Health Vegetarian Health Children Cruelty Knows

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Books & Sources

Aspects of I.B. SingerRelated source material

Isaac Bashevis Singer: ConversationsRelated source material

The collected stories of Isaac Bashevis SingerRelated source material

Collected Stories: Gimpel the Fool to the Letter WriterRelated source material

Conversations with Isaac Bashevis SingerRelated source material

ShoshaRelated source material

The PenitentRelated source material

American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to NowRelated source material

A Certain Bridge: Isaac Bashevis Singer on Literature and LifeRelated source material

Collected Stories: One Night in Brazil to The Death of MethuselahRelated source material

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