“One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.”

The modern woman asks herself: Is there something wrong with me if my children don’t fill up my life?

Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.

There can be no doubt that the average man blames much more than he praises. His instinct is to blame. If he is satisfied he says nothing; if he is not, he most illogically kicks up a row.

I’m a slave to this leaf in a diary that lists what I must do, what I must say, every half hour.

A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.

If only political leaders would allow themselves to feel, as well as to think, the world might be a happier place.

It’s no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do?.. Those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.

The only alternative to war is peace and the only road to peace is negotiations.

Whether women are better than men I cannot say – but I can say they are certainly no worse.

There is only one thing I hope to see before I die, and that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore.

It isn’t enough to believe in something; you have to have the stamina to meet obstacles and overcome them, to struggle.

It is not a sin to be seventy but it is also no joke.

We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go.

Not being beautiful was the true blessing. Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources. The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome.

Fashion is an imposition, a reign on freedom.

It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don’t want victories anymore.

Many of the most highly publicized events of my presidency are not nearly as memorable or significant in my life as fishing with my daddy.

Just as real events are forgotten, some that never were can be in our memories as if they happened.

It feels like I’ve been singing since I was born, and I have so many great memories with my family and friends centred around music.

Mark my words. Memories of me will haunt you when you sleep at night. No one forgets a love like mine.

Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.

Academic education is the act of memorizing things read in books, and things told by college professors who got their education mostly by memorizing things read in books.

I think what you notice most when you haven’t been home in a while is how much the trees have grown around your memories.

From Russia I didn’t bring out a single happy memory, only sad, tragic ones. The nightmare of pogroms, the brutality of Cossacks charging young Socialists, fear, shrieks of terror.