Mary Antin
Mary Antin
Mary Antinwas an American author and immigration rights activist. She is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, an account of her emigration and subsequent Americanization...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth24 February 1909
CountryRussian Federation
commands czar except left might pay sending shall till tribute
The czar was always sending us commands - you shall not do this and you shall not do that - till there was very little left that we might do, except pay tribute and die.
prepared talked till time tutor
First, you had to have a tutor at home, who prepared you and talked all the time about the examination you would have to pass, till you were scared.
draw higher left life means nearer shining step
If education, culture, the higher life were shining things to be worshiped from afar, he had still a means left whereby he could draw one step nearer to them.
along burned delighted moved people until
As we moved along in a little procession, I was delighted with the illumination of the streets. So many lamps, and they burned until morning, my father said, and so people did not need to carry lanterns.
No, the czar did not want us in the schools.
In the evening of the first day my father conducted us to the public baths.
chief close command gave honor love police positive prayer shall
One positive command he gave us: You shall love and honor your emperor. In every congregation a prayer must be said for the czar's health, or the chief of police would close the synagogue.
expected gentiles
There was one thing, however, the Gentiles always understood, and that was money. They would take any kind of bribe, at any time. They expected it.
art drama clouds
I have so little mastered the art of tranquil living that wherever I go I trail storm clouds of drama around me.
two world want
I want now to be of today. It is painful to be conscious of two worlds. The Wandering Jew in me seeks forgetfulness.
past cradle bigs
The past was only my cradle, and now it cannot hold me, because I am grown too big.
bones refuse nations
What we get in steerage is not the refuse, but the sinew and bone of all the nations.
matter ruined dues
The czar always got his dues, no matter if it ruined a family.
practice use elements
A little instruction in the elements of chartography—a little practice in the use of the compass and the spirit level, a topographical map of the town common, an excursion with a road map—would have given me a fat round earth in place of my paper ghost.