Quotes from Shosha

“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, quote from Shosha

“Irgendwo war mir ein Rest von Glauben an den freien Willen geblieben, aber an diesem Morgen war ich sicher, dem Menschen blieb so viel freie Wahl wie dem Uhrwerk in meiner Armbanduhr oder der Fliege, die auf dem Rand meiner Untertasse saß. Es waren die gleichen Kräfte, die Hitler, Stalin, den Papst, den Rabbi von Gur und ein Molekül in der Mitte der Erde antrieben, wie auch ein Sternbild, das Milliarden Lichtjahre entfernt von der Milchstraße war. Blinde Mächte? Sehende Mächte? Es war gleichgültig geworden. Es war uns bestimmt, unsere kleinen Spiele zu spielen und zermalmt zu werden.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“Wann immer ich vom Leben den Status quo erwarte, taucht etwas ganz unerwartetes auf. Die Weltgeschichte ist aus dem gleichen Teig gemacht wie Semmeln. Hauptsache, sie sind frisch.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“Wie ich höre, zeigt auch der Himmel eine Leidenschaft für das Neue. Ein Stern wird müde, ein Stern zu sein, und er explodiert und wird eine Nova.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“Wir Juden haben die Völker mit einem ewigen Gott belastet, und darum hassen sie uns.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“But I never forgot Shosha. I dreamed of her at night. In my dreams she was both dead and alive. I played with her in a garden which was also a cemetery. Dead girls joined us there, wearing garments that were ornate shrouds. They danced in circles and sang songs. They swung, skated, occasionally hovered in the air. The birds there were different from any I knew. They were as big as eagles, as colorful as parrots. They spoke Yiddish. From the thickets surrounding the garden, beasts with human faces showed themselves. Shosha was at home in this garden, and instead of my pointing out and explaining to her as I had done in the past, she revealed to me things I hadn't known and whispered secrets in my ear. Her hair had grown long enough to reach her loins, and her flesh glowed like mother-of-pearl. I always awoke from this dream with a sweet taste in my mouth and the impression that Shosha was on longer living.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“But I never forgot Shosha. I dreamed of her at night. In my dreams she was both dead and alive. I played with her in a garden which was also a cemetery. Dead girls joined us there, wearing garments that were ornate shrouds. They danced in circles and sang songs. They swung, skated, occasionally hovered in the air. I strolled with Shosha in a forest of gigantic trees that reached the sky. The birds there were different from any I knew. They were as big as eagles, as colorful as parrots. They spoke Yiddish. From the thickets surrounding the garden, beasts with human faces showed themselves. Shosha was at home in this garden, and instead of my pointing out and explaining to her as I had done in the past, she revealed to me things I hadn't known and whispered secrets in my ear. Her hair had grown long enough to reach her loins, and her flesh glowed like mother-of-pearl. I always awoke from this dream with a sweet taste in my mouth and the impression that Shosha was on longer living.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“— Куда ушли все эти годы? Кто будет по мнить их после того, как уйдем и мы? Писатели будут писать, но они все перевернут вверх ногами. Должно же быть место, где все останется, до мельчайших подробностей. Пускай нам говорят, что мухи попадают в паутину и паук их высасывает досуха. Во Вселенной существует такое, что не может быть забыто. Если все можно забыть, Вселенную не стоило и создавать. Вы понимаете меня или нет?
— Да, Геймл.
— Цуцик, это ваши слова!
— Не помню, чтобы я это говорил.
— Вы не помните, а я помню. Я помню все, что сказал Морис, сказали вы, сказала Селия. Временами вы говорили забавные глупости, и их я помню тоже. Если Бог есть мудрость, то как может существовать глупость? А если Бог есть жизнь, то как может существовать смерть? Я лежу ночью, маленький человечек, полураздавленное насекомое, и говорю со смертью, с живыми, с Богом, если Он есть, и с Сатаной, который уж определенно существует. Я спрашиваю у них: "Зачем нужно, чтобы все это существовало?" — и жду ответа. Как вы думаете, Цуцик, есть где-нибудь ответ или нет?
— Нет. Нет ответа.
— Почему же нет?
— Не может быть оправданий для страданий — и для страдальцев его тоже нет.
— Тогда чего же я жду?
Геня отворила дверь:
— Что вы сидите в темноте, хотела бы я знать?
Геймл улыбнулся:
— Мы ждем ответа.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“Was die Moralisten das Böse nannten, war in Wirklichkeit die Lebensregel.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“Wir laufen davon, und der Berg Sinai läuft hinter uns her. Diese Jagd hat uns krank gemacht.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

“Ich erinnere mich noch an Ihre Worte: „Die Welt ist ein Schlachthaus und ein Bordell.“ Damals schien mir das übertrieben, aber es ist bittere Wahrheit. Man hält Sie für einen Mystiker, aber in Wirklichkeit sind Sie durch und durch Realist. Wie dem auch sei, alles wird uns aufgezwungen, selbst die Hoffnung.”
― Isaac Bashevis Singer, quote from Shosha

About the author

Popular quotes

“So it follows that those who have reason have freedom to will or not to will, although this freedom is not equal in all of them. [...] human souls are more free when they persevere in the contemplation of the mind of God, less free when they descend to the corporeal, and even less free when they are entirely imprisoned in earthly flesh and blood.”
― Boethius, quote from The Consolation of Philosophy

“Reacher remembered a line from an old song: Set the controls for the heart of the sun.”
― Lee Child, quote from A Wanted Man

“In the fluid world of 1919, it was possible to dream of great change, or have nightmares about the collapse of order.”
― Margaret MacMillan, quote from Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World

“No matter how many years passed or how much responsibility each assumed, they still managed to bicker like bitchy teenagers on a regular basis. In some way, though, each found it comforting; it reminded them how close they really were: Acquaintances were always on their best behavior, but sisters loved each other enough to say anything.”
― Lauren Weisberger, quote from Chasing Harry Winston

“In our century even our dreams are alike, even dreams are things we sell. Undifferentiated, which is just another way of saying indifferent.”
― Karl Ove Knausgård, quote from Min kamp 2

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.