“The dearest days in one’s life are those that seem very far and very near at once.”

Life is much shorter than I imagined it to be.

Above all, you must fight conceit, envy, and every kind of ill-feeling in your heart.

Remember that it is not enough to abstain from lying by word of mouth; for the worst lies are often conveyed by a false look, smile, or act.

God, for example, appealed to me as a beardless man wearing a quilted silk cap; holiness was something burning, forbidding, something connected with fire while a day had the form of an oblong box.

If it be true that our people represent a high percentage of mental vigor, the distinction is probably due, in some measure, to the extremely important part which Talmud studies have played in the spiritual life of the race.

Be modest, humble, simple. Control your anger.

Only the other world has substance and reality; only good deeds and holy learning have tangible worth.

You must never tire fighting Satan.

The orthodox Jewish faith practically excludes woman from religious life.

If you study the Talmud you please God even more than you do by praying or fasting.

What is this world? A mere curl of smoke for the wind to scatter.

If you feel that you are good, don’t be too proud of it.

I was a great dreamer of day dreams.

What is wealth? A dream of fools.

If a man is tongue-tied, don’t laugh at him, but, rather, feel pity for him, as you would for a man with broken legs.

The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer.

Anyone who’s had a shower and hasn’t ingested illegal narcotics within a couple of days stands out on a bench in the courthouse.

Don’t I yearn for the days when a draw across the throat made f**king resolution.

As a wise man once said, “April Fools Day is for amateurs. You NEVER need an excuse to mess with people’s heads.”

So that was a joke that I continue up to this very day.

We start to realize that there are anodynes in life that help us through the day.

I would come home and she would tell me about her life that day and all her problems and I remember saying to her, look, you really got me through this picture because I would shed everything when I came home.

You grow up real quick, a half-Mexican in a sailor’s suit, because I’d be riding the streetcar to school everyday.