Each soul must accomplish its task, or it would not have been sent here. Isaac Bashevis Singer More Quotes by Isaac Bashevis Singer More Quotes From Isaac Bashevis Singer Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. The chasm is never completely bridged. We all have the conviction, perhaps illusory, that we have much more to say than appears on the paper. Isaac Bashevis Singer vision expression writing Literature is the memory of humanity. Isaac Bashevis Singer literature humanity memories Various philosophers and religious leaders tried to convince their disciples and followers that animals are nothing more than machines without a soul, without feelings. However, anyone who has ever lived with an animal-be it a dog, a bird, or even a mouse-knows that this theory is a brazen lie, invented to justify cruelty. Isaac Bashevis Singer religious dog lying We know what a person thinks not when he tells us what he thinks, but by his actions. Isaac Bashevis Singer acting inspirational thinking In the half darkness I winked to my other self, my mad dictator, and congratulated him on his droll victory. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth flowing from Shosha's head to my face. What did I have to lose? Nothing more than what everyone loses anyway. Isaac Bashevis Singer mad eye self How can we speak of right and justice if we take an innocent creature and shed its blood? How can we pray to God for mercy if we ourselves have no mercy? Nobel laureate in literature. Isaac Bashevis Singer literature justice blood There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is. Isaac Bashevis Singer gun animal men Kindness, I've discovered, is everything in life. Isaac Bashevis Singer generosity kindness All that God does is for the good. Isaac Bashevis Singer good-god god doe When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself. Isaac Bashevis Singer self-improvement betrayal betrayed We all play chess with Fate as partner. He makes a move, we make a move. He tries to checkmate us in three moves, we try to prevent it. We know we can't win, but we're driven to give him a good fight. Isaac Bashevis Singer fate fighting moving Children have no use for psychology. They detest sociology. They still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff. When a book is boring, they yawn openly. They don't expect their writer to redeem humanity, but leave to adults such childish allusions. Isaac Bashevis Singer believe book children As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, all men were Nazis. Isaac Bashevis Singer compassion animal men The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique. Isaac Bashevis Singer greatness unique art In the history of old Jewish literature there was never any basic difference between the poet and the prophet. Our ancient poetry often became law and a way of life. Isaac Bashevis Singer differences literature law If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet. Isaac Bashevis Singer change motivational inspirational A good writer is basically a story teller, not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind. Isaac Bashevis Singer literature stories writing The more you see what other people do, the more you learn about yourself. Isaac Bashevis Singer about-yourself people Man is a disgusting thing. If you beat him he starts to scream, but if it is the other one who is beaten, then he constructs a theory. Isaac Bashevis Singer scream beats men Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God. Isaac Bashevis Singer compassion religious love