Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes.

One must also accept that one has uncreative moments. The more honestly one can accept that, the quicker these moments will pass.

Life cannot be captured in a few axioms. And that is just what I keep trying to do. But it won't work, for life is full of endless nuances and cannot be captured in just a few formulae.

I would . . . be so exhausted by my determination that I had no strength left to do the actual work.

I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one's inner life. And that too is a deed.

Greed probably figures in my intellectual life as well, as I attempt to absorb a massive amount of information with consequent mental indigestion.

After each creative act one has to be sustained by one's strength of character, by a moral sense, by I don't know what, lest one tumble.

The only measure you have is yourself.

Life is difficult, it is true, a struggle from minute to minute…but the struggle itself is thrilling.

Every day I shall put my papers in order and every day I shall say farewell. And the real farewell, when it comes, will only be a small outward confirmation of what has been accomplished within me from day to day.

God is not accountable to us, but we are to Him. I know what may lie in wait for us.... And yet I find life beautiful and meaningful.

We left the camp singing.

Life is good, after all…and that’s what stays with me, even now, even when I’m about to be packed off to Poland (Auschwitz).