Rabbi Zusya said that on the Day of Judgment, God would ask him, not why he had not been Moses, but why he had not been Zusya.

It does not follow that the meaning must be given from above; that life and suffering must come neatly labeled; that nothing is worth while if the world is not governed by a purpose.

Man stands alone in the universe, responsible for his condition, likely to remain in a lowly state, but free to reach above the stars.

Writing is thinking in slow motion.

Reason may not always tell us what to believe, but it can help us on what we shouldn't believe.

The great artist is the man who most obviously succeeds in turning his pains to advantage, in letting suffering deepen his understanding and sensibility, in growing through his pains.

Words signify man's refusal to accept the world as it is.

Those who believe in God because their experience of life and the facts of nature prove his existence must have led sheltered lives and closed their hearts to the voice of their brothers' blood.

For atheism and polytheism there is no special problem of suffering, nor need there be for every kind of monotheism.

To try to fashion something from suffering, to relish our triumphs, and to endure defeats without resentment: all that is compatible with the faith of a heretic.

Life ceases to be so oppressive: we are free to give our own lives meaning and purpose, free to redeem our suffering by making something of it.

Many women arrange their lives around the people they love. Unfortunately, that arrangement takes up most of our days.

You don't choose to love. It chooses you.

Pride is often used as a way to protect our hearts and to hide the truth. Pride causes us to shut down and build walls.

I like my life alone. I mean, I love being with friends, and I love kissing and loving someone to pieces. But it's hard to find someone who doesn't ultimately start judging you and your choices.

The internet makes everything not enough.

The bold defiance of a woman is the certain sign of her shame, - when she has once ceased to blush, it is because she has too much to blush for.

A donkey appears to me like a horse translated into Dutch.

I like to be challenged acting wise and I like to do things that I'm scared of.

I didn't want to see them lower him into the ground in the spot he'd picked out with his dad, and I didn't want to see his parents sink to their knees in the dew-wet grass and moan in pain.

The anchor holds in spite of the storm