Amos Oz

Writer

1939-05-04 – 2018-12-28

Amos Oz was an Israeli writer, novelist, and public intellectual. He was a major voice in modern Hebrew literature and a noted advocate for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Quotes by Amos Oz

Jesus was born a Jew, and he died a Jew. It never occurred to him to establish a new religion. He never crossed himself: he had no reason to. He never set one foot in a church. He went to synagogue.
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Israel of the coastal plain, where eight out of ten Israeli Jews live far removed from the occupied territories, from the fiery Jerusalem, from the religious and nationalistic conflicts, is unknown to the outside world, almost unknown to itself.
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Every single pleasure I can imagine or have experienced is more delightful, more of a pleasure, if you take it in small sips, if you take your time. Reading is not an exception.
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I've been called a traitor a few times in my life by some of my countrymen.
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I listen to my political rivals sometimes with fear and trembling, sometimes with awe, sometimes with near panic, but always with a curiosity of nuances, curiosity for the language, curiosity for the story behind the 'impossible' position.
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Trump is many things. He is pampered. He is an immature man. He is a teenager craving unconditional, endless love from everybody.
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Very often, fanaticism begins at home. It begins inside the family. It begins with the urge to change our kin, to change our beloved ones for their own good because we think we know better than them what is good and what is bad for them, what is right and what is wrong in their thinking.
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It is crystal clear to me that if Arabs put down a draft resolution blaming Israel for the recent earthquake in Iran it would probably have a majority, the U.S. would veto it and Britain and France would abstain.
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I wrote a novel about Israelis who live their own lives on the slope of a volcano. Near a volcano one still falls in love, one still gets jealous, one still wants a promotion, one still gossips.
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Hey you: are you looking for something? Fima replied: Yes. I'm looking for tomorrow. The policeman politely suggested: Well, go and look for it somewhere else, sir. Move along please. You can't wait here.
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When people have peace, they hate it and long for excitement, and when they have excitement, they want peace.
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