14 Quotes by S.Y. Agnon

Tears won’t saturate the dead and weeping will not raise him from his grave, if he has one. We should do for the living what we are unable to do for the dead.

You haven’t been conscripted and I have to delay my return home so I’ll stay with you while you tell me about these good people you’ve seen. One doesn’t encounter good people every day and people don’t see the good in others. You are blessed, Mr. Jakob, that God has brought good people to you and that you have discovered them to be good.

As night falls the city extricates itself from the work of the day and the stars prepare to come out. These were not the stars I was used to in the skies of my town and in the Land of Israel, but they are stars nevertheless. I’m grateful to them because even in a strange land they console me.

I wanted to say something as a man does who suddenly finds himself in a quiet place but I said nothing, like a man who suddenly finds himself in a quiet place and also keeps quiet.

This is in line with what the Yalkut notes: when King David finished composing the Book of Psalms, he boasted to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the Universe! Is there anything in the world that lifts up its voice in song like me?“ – upon which a frog appeared before him and said, “Do not be so proud of yourself. I sing more than you do.