Some of my cronies call me a pessimist and a decadent, but there is always a background of faith behind resignation. Isaac Bashevis Singer More Quotes by Isaac Bashevis Singer More Quotes From Isaac Bashevis Singer No lepidopterist's collection in the entire world...full if iridescent wings, is worth the life of a single butterfly. Isaac Bashevis Singer butterflywingsworld Whatever doesn't really happen is dreamed at night. It happens to one if it doesn't happen to another, tomorrow if not today, or a century hence if not next year. Isaac Bashevis Singer next-yearnightyears Each soul must accomplish its task, or it would not have been sent here. Isaac Bashevis Singer taskspurposesoul It is written, better to be a fool all your days than for one hour to be evil. You are not a fool. They are the fools. For he who causes his neighbor to feel shame loses Paradise himself. Isaac Bashevis Singer paradisefoolevil It is a fact that the classics of Yiddish literature are also the classics of the modern Hebrew literature. Isaac Bashevis Singer hebrewliteraturefacts Writing has power, but its power has no vector. Writers can stir the mind, but they can't direct it. Time changes things, God changes things, the dictators change things, but writers can't change anything. Isaac Bashevis Singer vectorsmindwriting The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect, between life and death. When literature becomes too intellectual - when it begins to ignore the passions, the emotions - it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance. Isaac Bashevis Singer sillywarlife 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. Isaac Bashevis Singer victoryknowingdoe I believe in free will. I have no choice. Isaac Bashevis Singer free-willchoicesbelieve There must be a way for man to attain all possible pleasures, all the powers and knowledge that nature can grant him, and still serve God--a God who speaks in deeds, not in words, and whose vocabulary is the Cosmos. Isaac Bashevis Singer cosmosvocabularymen The sexual organs are the most sensitive organs of the human being. They are not diplomats. They tell the truth. Isaac Bashevis Singer sensitivediplomatstelling-the-truth When a day passes, it is no longer there. What remains of it? Nothing more than a story. If stories weren't told or books weren't written, man would live like the beasts, only for the day. Isaac Bashevis Singer storiesmenbook When literature becomes overly erudite, it means that interest in the art has gone and curiosity about the artist is what's important. It becomes a kind of idolatry. Isaac Bashevis Singer curiositymeanart While the poet entertains he continues to search for eternal truths, for the essence of being. In his own fashion he tries to solve the riddle of time and change, to find an answer to suffering, to reveal love in the very abyss of cruelty and injustice. Strange as these words may sound I often play with the idea that when all the social theories collapse and wars and revolutions leave humanity in utter gloom, the poet--whom Plato banned from his Republic--may rise up to save us all. Isaac Bashevis Singer fashionplatowar The ghetto was not only a place of refuge for a persecuted minority but a great experiment in peace, in self-discipline and in humanism. As such it still exists and refuses to give up in spite of all the brutality that surrounds it. I was brought up among those people. Isaac Bashevis Singer ghettogiving-upself As much as I can give of myself I give of myself. There's no reason why not. And when I have to hide something, I let the character speak. Isaac Bashevis Singer why-notgivingcharacter Every body resisted (the slaughterer) in its own fashion, tried to escape and seemed to argue with the Creator to its last breath. Isaac Bashevis Singer fashionlastsbody The pessimism of the creative person is not decadence but a mighty passion for the redemption of man. Isaac Bashevis Singer passioncreativemen The genuine writer cannot ignore the fact that the family is losing its spiritual foundation. Isaac Bashevis Singer foundationspiritualfacts The analysis of character is the highest human entertainment. Isaac Bashevis Singer analysisliteraturecharacter
