Anita Diament Quotes

Since 1985, I have written about contemporary Jewish practice and the Jewish community.

The Sabbath is a weekly cathedral raised up in my dining room, in my family, in my heart.

I got nice rejections explaining that historical fiction was a difficult sell. But I kept trying.

Why did I not know that birth is the pinnacle where women discover the courage to become mothers?

The painful things seemed like knots on a beautiful necklace, necessary for keeping the beads in place.

One of his tears fell in my mouth, where it became a blue sapphire, source of strength, source of strength and eternal hope.

The more a daughter knows the details of her mother's life [...] the stronger the daughter.

I tell writers to keep reading, reading, reading. Read widely and deeply. And I tell them not to give up even after getting rejection letters. And only write what you love.

My husband, Jim, converted to Judaism just before our wedding.

Right now, I'm Writing song lyrics. Experimenting with a play. Toying with an idea for a documentary. I hope one of these will eventually be launched into the light of day.

As a journalist I'm comfortable doing library research, and I did a lot! I had a fellowship at Radcliff for a year which gave me access to the Harvard system.

Shakespeare in Love... such smart writing of an alternative view of history, and such beautiful acting. Like most Americans, I'm a sucker for the accent.

One of my great secrets was knowing I had the power to make her smile.

The more I do bookstores, the more people come up to me from church groups. I spoke at Pittsburg State College and had 2 or 3 ministers and book groups from a couple of churches.

My early childhood was spent in Newark, New Jersey, but my family moved to Denver when I was 12.

Weeping is terrible for the complexion" said Leonie, holding Shayndel close, "but it is very good for the soul.

I never wanted Mary Poppins to be my nanny. I wanted to be her when I grew up.

The real Mary Poppins got lost when Hollywood turned her into a cream puff.

on the day that the intlligence and talents of women are fully honored and employed, the human community and the planet itself will benefit in ways we can only begin to imagine.

It's a good thing babies don't give you a lot of time to think. You fall in love with them and when you realize how much they love you back, life is very simple.

One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish and English lines and see how the translator worked.

He was golden and beautiful as a sunset.

I am so honored to be the vessel into which you pour this story of pain and strength.

There's nothing quite like a real . . . train conductor to add color to a quotidian commute

I love many kinds of music: world music, jazz, classical, pop.

Egypt loved the lotus because it never dies. It is the same for people who are loved.

Of all life's pleasures, only love owes no debt to death.

My heart is a ladle of sweet water brimming over.

Biblical names are hot again.

I wanted to cry, but I realized that I was too old for that. I would be a woman soon and I would have to learn how to live with a divided heart.

The other reason women wanted daughters was to keep their memories alive.

I moved my arms through the water, feeling them float on the surface, watching the waves and wake that followed my gesture. Here was magic, I thought. Here was something holy.

If you want to understand any woman, you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully.

Wherever you walk, I go with you. Selah.

It is terrible how much has been forgotten, which is why, I suppose, remembering seems a holy thing.

I pray I die before they day comes when I do not know if my sons are infants or grandfathers.

When a shy person smiles, it’s like the sun coming out.

Mountains are where heaven meets earth.

There's something almost adolescent about Whitman's paean to everything that was and remains good about America.

Whatever your relationship is to your sacred tradition in the West, you have some relationship to the Bible if only through the names of the characters.

The Bible - it's sort of the other person in the room. There's this book, the reader, and the Bible.