“Some people have family crests, lions, tigers, unicorns, elephants - a whole menagerie - and if my family had a crest, you know what would be on it? A blintze. I mean it. All the good things in my life are measured in blintzes because by us it's not a party if there isn't a blintze.” PeopleIfsKnowsMeanWholeWould BePartyFamilyFoodMy FamilyGood ThingsLionsElephantsTigersUnicornMenagerie Author:Gertrude Berg
“Borscht is more than a soup, it's a weather vane. When my family says they want hot borscht I know winter is coming, and when they want cold borscht I know how far can spring be behind?” KnowsWantBehindsKnow HowFoodColdSpringMy FamilyHotWinterWeatherSoupWinter Is ComingBorscht Author:Gertrude Berg
“By some people the meal itself is a long delay between the appetizer and the dessert.” PeopleLongMealsDelayDessertAppetizers Author:Gertrude Berg
“When it's all over and the on the air signs go off there isn't a more lost feeling in the world. The wonderful, exciting, even glamorous, studio is now just a room dirty with coffee cartons and cigarette butts.” WorldFeelingsLostRoomsWonderfulAirExcitingRadioStudiosCoffeeDirtyCigaretteGlamorous Author:Gertrude Berg
“All this [Soviet labor camp for political prisoners] brings about one marked change in your physical appearance; by the end of your first year, you will have what are known as 'zek's eyes.' The look in a zek's eyes is impossible to describe, but once encountered, it is never forgotten. When you emerge, your friends, embracing you, will exclaim: 'Your eyes! Your eyes have changed!' And not one of your tormentors will be able to bear your scrutiny. They will turn away from it, like beaten dogs.” YearsFirstsLooksEndsEyeAblePoliticalTurnsKnownImpossibleDogChangedBearsLaborPrisonForgottenAppearancePrisonerCampsSovietBeatenScrutinyPhysical AppearancePolitical Prisoners Author:Irina Ratushinskaya
“you must not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to hate. Not because your tormentors have not earned it. But if you allow hatred to take root, it would flourish and spread during your years in the camps, driving out everything else, and ultimately corrode and warp your soul. You will no longer be yourself, your identity will be destroyed, all that will remain will be a hysterical, maddened and bedevilled husk of the human being that once was.” IfsYearsHumansSoulHateHuman BeingsIdentityCircumstancesRootsHatredPrisonSpreadDrivingDestroyedYour SoulBeing YourselfCampsHystericalWarp Author:Irina Ratushinskaya
“Let no Body be afrighted, because so many things are to be learnt, when the learning of them will be so pleasant; how profitable I need not tell you.” NeedsBodyKnowledgeLearningPleasantProfitable Author:Bathsua Makin
“[On children:] Being built closer to the floor, they can dust the baseboards in half the time.” ChildrenHalfBuiltDustHousework Author:Lois Gould