171 Quotes by Anita Diamant

How could she find the courage to kill herself when she had no courage for life?

In the moment before I crossed over, I knew that the priests and magicians of Egypt were fools and charlatans for promising to prolong the beauties of life beyond the world we are give. Death is no enemy, but the foundation of gratitude, sympathy, and art. All of life’s pleasures, only love owes no debt to death.

The Sabbath is a weekly cathedral raised up in my dining room, in my family, in my heart.

Mimba had been right about white people. The best thing was to treat them like ghosts and cannibals, not to be trusted. But sometimes, a white ghost would look at you straight on, with a full smile, eye to eye. The smile of the eye was the secret, Mimba had taught her. You had to be careful always, but every now and again you could act as though they had souls, too. Easter was one like that.

When I think back, I get mad at what they did to those poor men. Ernie must have had PTSD – they called it shell shock – and the doctors told him to keep it all bottled up inside. They didn’t know any better, but it was like treating syphilis with candy bars.

The other reason women wanted daughters was to keep their memories alive.

She stopped and faced me and took both my hands in hers and asked, “Are you ready to swallow the moon at last?

Since 1985, I have written about contemporary Jewish practice and the Jewish community.

The Bible – it’s sort of the other person in the room. There’s this book, the reader, and the Bible.