13 Yiddish Quotes for You to Enjoy

I realised a long time ago that instrumental music speaks a lot more clearly than English, Spanish, Yiddish, Swahili, any other language. Pure melody goes outside time. Carlos Santana

Music Time Language Pure Long Long Time Other Melody More Outside Long Time Ago Clearly Instrumental Lot Yiddish Than Goes Any Realised Spanish Speaks English

The songs I love to sing are story songs, from Yiddish songs to Tom Waits. Mandy Patinkin

Love Songs Sing Waits Yiddish Story Tom Tom Waits

I never publicise in advance what I'm going to be singing because I never quite know until I start. I often change my mind halfway through. I sometimes throw in stuff about politics or Shakespeare or do songs in Yiddish. Mandy Patinkin

My father who in this case was an obsessive life-long storyteller, and by a very peculiar trick of my father's. My father would tell a very, very long story, and the punch line would be in Yiddish. Stephen Greenblatt

Father Long Punch Punch Line Tell Trick Would Would-Be Case Life-Long Long Story Obsessive Line Very Yiddish Story Storyteller Who Peculiar

I never learned to speak Yiddish, ever. Joel Grey

Speak Never Learned Yiddish Ever

Michael Chabon has long moved easily between the playful, heartfelt realism of novels like 'The Mysteries of Pittsburgh' and 'Wonder Boys' and his playful, heartfelt, more fantastical novels like 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay' and 'The Yiddish Policemen's Union.' Cathleen Schine

Yiddish, originally, in Eastern Europe was considered the language of children, of the illiterate, of women. And 500 years later, by the 19th century, by the 18th century, writers realized that, in order to communicate with the masses, they could no longer write in Hebrew. They needed to write in Yiddish, the language of the population. Ilan Stavans

Women Communicate Language Later Considered Eastern Eastern Europe Could Write Writers Longer Masses Years Yiddish Children Order Hebrew Century Realized Europe Illiterate Population Originally Needed

It's self-effacing, it's hard-luck, the shtetl stories. All those Coasters things are an amalgam of Yiddish and black humor. Jerry Leiber

Humor Black Those Yiddish Stories Things

Growing up in South London, we went to a school where there were not that many Jewish kids. I love being Jewish in L.A.; it feels really normal. The culture seems to be integrated into Hollywood. Everyone uses Yiddish words like 'schlep' and 'schmooze.' That's what I love about New York, too. Hannah Ware

Love Culture Words School Too Everyone Kids London About Seems Feels New Like Were Integrated South Normal Up Yiddish York New York Being Where Hollywood Really Uses Many Growing Growing Up Jewish

I have another aspect of my career where I'm a scholar of Yiddish and Hebrew literature, and I'll say that when you study Yiddish literature, you know a whole lot about forgotten writers. Most of the books on my shelves were literally saved from the garbage. I am sort of very aware of what it means to be a forgotten artist in that sense. Dara Horn

You Sense Garbage Saved Books Say About Writers Scholar Study Know Most Sort Another Am Shelves Were Lot Very Yiddish Artist Forgotten Where Literally Hebrew Literature Means Aspect Whole Aware Career

Brandeis is so fast and loose and informal, I didn't have any problem offering a history course as a biologist. The barriers would be far more formidable, unscalable, at other institutions. But this is a user-friendly place. It's 'Shmedrik University' - that's a Yiddish word for even worse than schlemiel. Jeffrey C. Hall

History Problem Word Other Worse Would Would-Be More Institutions Course Loose Yiddish Than Offering Any Informal Place Formidable Far User-Friendly Barriers Even Even Worse Fast Biologist University