"Let us beware of common folk, common sense, sentiment, inspiration, and the obvious."

"A choice tells the world what is most important to a human being. When a man has a "choice "to make he chooses what is most important to him, and that choice tells the world what kind of a man he is."

"… the world will indulge you just so long Asher Lev. Then it will stop. You will simply have to grow accustomed to that truth."

"Art is a person's private vision expressed in aesthetic forms."

"It's always easier to learn something than to use what you've learned. . . . You're alone when you're learning. But you always use it on other people. It's different when there are other people involved."

"... an artist is a person first. He is an individual. If there is no person, there is no artist."

"It is when you are angry that you must watch how you talk."

"Oh, it makes a difference, I thought. And if it doesn't make a difference you will make it make a difference."

"Every man who has shown the world the way to beauty, to true culture, has been a rebel, a 'universal' without patriotism, without home who has found his people everywhere."

"If a person has a contribution to make, he must make it in public. If learning is not made public, it is a waste."

"A life is measured by how it is lived for the sake of heaven."

"I do not have many things that are meaningful to me. Except my doubts and my fears. And my art."

"Seeds must be sown everywhere. Only some will bear fruit. But there would not be the fruit from the few had the many not been sown"

"It's not a pretty world, Papa.' 'I've noticed,' my father said softly."

"Art begins . . . when someone interprets, when someone sees the world through his own eyes. Art happens when what is seen becomes mixed with the inside of the person who is seeing it."

"Art is whether or not there is a scream in him wanting to get out in a special way."

"Two people who are true friends are like two bodies with one soul"

"No one knows he is fortunate until he becomes unfortunate, that's the way the world is."

"Something that is yours forever is never precious"

"…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future."

"I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own."

"True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire."

"The people united will never be defeated."

"It's ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves."