I was five years old when I wrote my first song. It was out of longing for my father that I wrote it. — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
The beginnings of my studies also came to me from my father, as well as from the Rabbinical Judge of our town. But they were preceded by three tutors under whom I studied, one after the other, from the time… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
It is not enough for a man to dwell in the Land of Israel, he must also pray to be free. — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
Our sages of blessed memory have said that we must not enjoy any pleasure in this world without reciting a blessing. If we eat any food, or drink any beverage, we must recite a blessing over them before and after. If we breathe the scent of goodly grass, the fragrance of spices, the aroma of good fruits, we pronounce a… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share
Who were my mentors in poetry and literature? This is a matter of opinion. Some see in my books the influences of authors whose… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
I am generally ashamed to walk out in new clothes. And why am I ashamed? Is it because I don't want to embarrass the… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
If I am proud of anything, it is that I have been granted the privilege of living in the land which God promised our… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
Our days on earth are like a shadow, and the time of our affliction is the length of our days. — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
When I first began to combine letters other than Hebrew, I read every book in German that came my way, and from these I… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
The fate of the singers who, like my songs, went up in flame was also the fate of the books which I later wrote.… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
Not every man remembers the name of the cow which supplied him with each drop of milk he has drunk. — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
But perhaps the truth newly discovered is itself only temporary and when new discoveries are made these truths too will be abandoned. But one… — Shmuel Yosef Agnon Copy Share Image
