Quote

Through a historical catastrophe - the destruction of Jerusalem by the emperor of Rome - I was born in one of the cities in the diaspora. But I always deemed myself a child of Jerusalem, one who is in reality a native of Jerusalem.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Age: 81 †
Born: 1888
Born: July 17
Died: 1970
Died: February 17
Novelist
Poet
Writer
Samuel Josef Agnon
Samuel Joseph Agnon
Cities
Deemed
Child
Jerusalem
Born
Emperor
Reality
Catastrophe
Children
Rome
Always
Native
Historical
Destruction
Diaspora

More quotes by Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Image
God in heaven sits on high and plays games with us. He has plenty to do up there, what with building worlds and then knocking them down again, breaking things up and then rebuilding them, and yet he can manage to put his mind even to a little grocer in his shop or to a babe in the cradle.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
The beginnings of my studies also came to me from my father, as well as from the Rabbinical Judge of our town. But they were preceded by three tutors under whom I studied, one after the other, from the time I was three and a half till I turned eight and a half.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
Our sages of blessed memory have said that we must not enjoy any pleasure in this world without reciting a blessing.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
If we breathe the scent of goodly grass, the fragrance of spices, the aroma of good fruits, we pronounce a blessing over the pleasure.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
It is not enough for a man to dwell in the Land of Israel, he must also pray to be free.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
On everything you need to hear other people's opinions. It's the only way to do things. You ask a friend's advice and then between the two of you things somehow get clearer.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
Our days on earth are like a shadow, and the time of our affliction is the length of our days.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
I was five years old when I wrote my first song. It was out of longing for my father that I wrote it.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
At the age of nineteen and a half, I went to the Land of Israel to till its soil and live by the labour of my hands. As I did not find work, I sought my livelihood elsewhere.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
I am generally ashamed to walk out in new clothes. And why am I ashamed? Is it because I don't want to embarrass the others who don't have new things? Or perhaps because a new coat makes you stand out, and you seem to be clothes and nothing else.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
If we eat any food, or drink any beverage, we must recite a blessing over them before and after.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
Not every man remembers the name of the cow which supplied him with each drop of milk he has drunk.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
For myself, I am very small indeed in my own eyes.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
Sometimes small things lead to great joys.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
I belong to the tribe of Levi.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
A home from which you can be ejected at any time is no true home.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
I have also written a book about the Giving of the Torah, and a book on the Days of Awe, and a book on the books of Israel that have been written since the day the Torah was given to Israel.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Image
If I am proud of anything, it is that I have been granted the privilege of living in the land which God promised our forefathers to give us, as it is written.
Shmuel Yosef Agnon