Jewish Wit and Wisdom

Book excerpt: "It's no disgrace to be poor," observed Sholom Aleichem, "but it's no great honor, either." "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city," remarked George Burns, while Marc Chagall noted that "Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers and never succeeding." These and many more classic examples of Jewish wit and wisdom sometimes hilarious, frequently profound, almost always incisive enliven the pages of this entertaining and practical little volume. Some 500 aphorisms include observations and remarks from statesmen, writers, artist, philosophers, jurists, musicians, and celebrities from the prophets of the Old Testament, the Talmud, and Maimonides to Joey Adams, Barbra Streisand, and Woody Allen. Here also are memorable quotes from Louis Brandeis, Martin Buber, Fanny Brice, Heinrich Heine, Sam Goldwyn, Golda Meir, Karl Marx, Groucho Marx, Herman Mankiewicz, Albert Einstein, and many others. Arranged alphabetically by author, these thought-provoking pronouncements will not only serve as a handy resource for speech writers and public speakers but will also amuse and inspire all readers. "