Quotes from Sholom Aleichem

I mention her name and the old pain returns. Forget her, you say? How can you forget a living human being?

Nothing begets friendship so readily as trouble.

Who could guess he'd have a tooth pulled by Shmelke the healer and lie down the next morning and die? It's as my mother says: "Tomorrow is another day—but whose?

Not that I'm waiting with bated breath for your presents. I need your diamond brooches and bracelets like last year's snow.

Life is a dream for the wise,a game for the fool,a comedy for the rich,a tragedy for the poor

There's an old saying, you know, that if you scratch a secret, you'll find a thief.

Here lies a plain and simple Jew who wrote in plain and simple prose.

You can take a Jew out of a shtetl, but you cannot take a shtetl out of a Jew.

One cannot live on potatoes alone. It is said that one wants bread with potatoes. And when there's no bread, a Jew takes his stick, and goes through the village in search of business.

Remember, you must not sleep at the Seder. If you do, Elijah the Prophet will come with a bag on his shoulders. On the two first nights of Passover, Elijah the Prophet goes about looking for those who have fallen asleep at the Seder, and takes them away in his bag.

When you die, others who think they know you, will concoct things about you... Better pick up a pen and write it yourself, for you know yourself best.

When have you ever heard of a cantor or any artist turning anyone down when he is strongly urged to perform?

If somebody tells you that you have ears like a donkey, pay no attention. But if two people tell you so, buy yourself a saddle.

There are people who have never been taught anything, and know everything, have never been anywhere, and understand everything, have never given a moment's thought to anything, and comprehend everything. 'Blessed hands' is the name bestowed on these fortunate beings. The world envies, honours and respects them.

I never turn down a drink. Among friends it's always appropriate. A man is only a man as they say, but brandy is still brandy. You'll find that in the Talmud too.

They say that children become men, and men become children. Many generations have grown up, become men, and gone hence.

A cantor, when he starts singing, it's like rain - once it starts, it's hard to stop.

A bachelor is a man who comes to work each morning from a different direction.

When the heart is full, the eyes overflow.

A real pleasure is a pleasure that one enjoys by one's self, without a companion, and without a single argument.

No matter how bad things get, you got to go on living, even if it kills you.

Adam was the luckiest man in the world. He had no mother-in-law.

Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.