01c. 1927 ADWhen the ship approached the equator, I stopped going out on deck in the daytime. The sun burned like a flame. The days had shortened and night came swiftly. One moment it was light, the next it was dark. The sun did not set but fell into the water like a meteor. Late in the evening, when I went out briefly, a hot wind slapped my face. From the ocean came a roar of passions that seemed to have broken through all barriers:'We mus procreate and multiply! We must exhaust all the powers of lust!' The waves glowed like lava, and I imagined I could see multitudes of living beings - algae, whales, sea monsters - reveling in an orgy, from the surface to the bottom of the sea. Immortality was the law here. The whole planet raged with animation. At times, I heard my name in the clamor: the spirit of the abyss calling me to join them in their nocturnal dance. ("Hanka")Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
03c. 1927 ADChildren have no use for psychology. They detest sociology. They still believe in God the family angels devils witches goblins logic clarity punctuation and other such obsolete stuff. When a book is boring they yawn openly. They don't expect their writer to redeem humanity but leave to adults such childish allusions.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
04c. 1927 ADIf you keep saying things are going to be bad you have a good chance of being a prophet.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
06c. 1927 ADWriting has power but its power has no vector. Writers can stir the mind but they can't direct it. Time changes things God changes things the dictators change things but writers can't change anything.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
07c. 1927 ADA good writer is basically a story-teller not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
08c. 1927 ADThe very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect, between life and death. When literature becomes too intellectual - when it begins to ignore the passions, the emotions - it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
10c. 1927 ADOur knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of nonknowledge.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
11c. 1927 ADWhat nature delivers to us is never stale. Because what nature creates has eternity in it.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
12c. 1927 ADDoubt is part of all religion. All the religious thinkers were doubters.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
13c. 1927 ADI am thankful, of course, for the prize and thankful to God for each story, each idea, each word, each day.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
14c. 1927 ADFor those who are willing to make an effort, great miracles and wonderful treasures are in store.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
15c. 1927 ADI did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
16c. 1927 ADThe greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
17c. 1927 ADEvery creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.Isaac Bashevis Singer / quote ↗
