Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Shmuel Yosef Agnon was a Nobel Prize laureate writer and was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. In Hebrew, he is known by the acronym Shai Agnon. In English, his works are published under the name S. Y. Agnon...
NationalityUkrainian
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth17 July 1888
CountryUkraine
heart jerusalem virtue
I returned to Jerusalem, and it is by virtue of Jerusalem that I have written all that God has put into my heart and into my pen.
return jerusalem possession
After all my possessions had been burned, God gave me the wisdom to return to Jerusalem.
song father years
I was five years old when I wrote my first song. It was out of longing for my father that I wrote it.
father eight judging
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 I was three and a half till I turned eight and a half.
blessing spices scent
If we breathe the scent of goodly grass, the fragrance of spices, the aroma of good fruits, we pronounce a blessing over the pleasure.
book ignorance writing
Who were my mentors in poetry and literature? This is a matter of opinion. Some see in my books the influences of authors whose names, in my ignorance, I have not even heard, while others see the influences of poets whose names I have heard but whose writings I have not read. And what is my opinion? From whom did I receive nurture? Not every man remembers the name of the cow which supplied him with each drop of milk he has drunk.
children reality rome
Through a historical catastrophe - the destruction of Jerusalem by the emperor of Rome - I was born in one of the cities in the diaspora. But I always deemed myself a child of Jerusalem, one who is in reality a native of Jerusalem.
memories blessed blessing
Our sages of blessed memory have said that we must not enjoy any pleasure in this world without reciting a blessing.
men israel land
It is not enough for a man to dwell in the Land of Israel, he must also pray to be free.
clothes coats want
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 others who don't have new things? Or perhaps because a new coat makes you stand out, and you seem to be clothes and nothing else.
shadow affliction earth
Our days on earth are like a shadow, and the time of our affliction is the length of our days.
discovery abandoned made
But perhaps the truth newly discovered is itself only temporary and when new discoveries are made these truths too will be abandoned. But one truth remains for ever, and that is the search for truth.
heart people stories
People's talk and the stories they tell have been engraved on my heart, and some of them have flown into my pen.
blessing before-and-after beverages
If we eat any food, or drink any beverage, we must recite a blessing over them before and after.