Jewish Resilience Quotes

To my great regret I have learned that Jews generally, and particularly those of the country, not only resent these publications as promoting anti-Semitism, but regard me as their enemy…. Had I appreciated even the general nature, to say nothing of the details of those utterances, I would have forbidden their circulation without a moment's hesitation. I admire the Jewish culture for its vast contributions to civilization, and for its sobriety, diligence, benevolence, and unselfish interest in public welfare.

The Jews are the most formidable and most remarkable race which has ever appeared in the world.

Given the long history of global anti-Semitism and continued calls for the destruction of Israel, it's tough to be a Jew.

I think the average Jew is probably sharper intellectually than the average gentile, because for years and years he's had to live by his wits. Consequently, there has evolved a race of Jews who are more agile mentally than the rest of us.

Jewish Americans weren't just integrated, like other ethnic and religious groups. They also attracted a particular sympathy and admiration, rooted in Holocaust remembrance, affection for Israel, and a distinctive pride in the scope of their success.

… the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race … Properly the Jew ought hardly to be hears of; but he is hears of, has always been heard of … His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers.

Our forces saved the remnants of the Jewish people of Europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn land of Israel. Along with all men of good will, I salute the young state and wish it well.

Look, we have existed for 4,000 years - 2,000 years in diaspora, in exile. Nobody in the Middle East speaks their original language but Israel. When we started 64 years ago, we were 650,000 people. So, you know, we are maybe swimming a little bit against the stream, but we continue to swim.

Modernity has been largely shaped for Jews by three momentous experiences: the acquisition of citizenship by individual Jews in secular nation-states, the destruction of one-third of Jewry in the Holocaust, and the founding of the State of Israel.

Some people like the Jews, and some do not. But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has appeared in the world.

Who would have believed that the day would come when I would sit here, in the office of the minister of justice of the Jewish state, and appoint you, a small and wretched child suffering from malnutrition in the Kovna ghetto, to be a justice of the Supreme Court? This is proof that Hitler did not succeed.

The nature of the Jew is governed by the same laws as human nature in general. In England, France, Germany and the rest of Europe (except, Spain), in spite of the barbarous treatment and deadly persecution they have suffered, they have lived and spread and outlived much of the poisonous rancor and prejudice against them, and Europe has been none the worse on their account.

I think the lack of automatically feeling, 'Yes, the future is going to be like the present' - that is very much a Jewish thing.

We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs; we have no place to go.

They invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy, so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power …. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world …

For American philo-Semites, the Jewish experience wasn't just one minority experience among many, but a signal and elevated case.

I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.

I did it to show the world that Jews have guts.

I respect Israel as hugely special, especially given all the sensitivities around it. The Jews managed to build a country, to elevate it, without anything except people and brains.

Look at Jewish history. Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one to be crazy and amuse the breast-beaters. By the time I was five I knew I was that one.

Under Hitler it was the entrepreneurial and professional classes who were the first victims of Nazi boycotts and exclusion. Today it is Israel, the most powerful symbol of Jewish national resurgence in two millennia.

It's interesting when you're part of a group - the Jews, to be exact - that the world has had such problems with.

Jewish Americans have a long and proud history in Georgia and in the United States. Their story is inherently American - it is one of resilience in the face of persecution and a commitment to creating a better world.

If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example.

Jewish people are tough people. They believe in something and believe it really strong, and I find it fascinating that a small country like Israel is as powerful as it is.