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I Learned A Long Time Ago, Reuven, That A Blink Of An Eye In Itself Is Nothing. But The Eye That Blinks, That Is Something. A Span Of Life Is Nothing. But The Man Who Lives That Span, He Is Something. He Can Fill That Tiny Span With Meaning, So Its Quality Is Immeasurable Though Its Quantity May Be Insignificant. Do You Understand What I Am Saying? A Man Must Fill His Life With Meaning, Meaning Is Not Automatically Given To Life.

-Chaim Potok

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I Learned A Long

Chaim Potok

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I Learned A Long Time Ago, Reuven, That A Blink Of An Eye In Itself Is Nothing. But The Eye That Blinks, That Is Something. A Span Of Life Is Nothing. But The Man Who Lives That Span, He Is Something. He Can Fill That Tiny Span With Meaning, So Its Quality Is Immeasurable Though Its Quantity May Be Insignificant. Do You Understand What I Am Saying? A Man Must Fill His Life With Meaning, Meaning Is Not Automatically Given To Life.

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Blink Of An Eye

I'm Constantly Revising. Once The Book Is Written And Typed, I Go Through The Entire Draft Again.

I Don't Work On My Sabbath. I Write Five-and-a-half Or Six Days A Week.

A Life Is Measured By How It Is Lived For The Sake Of Heaven.

There Is In My Work A Very Strong Religious Foreground And Background. In The Later Work Some Of That Tends To Diminish, But It's Certainly Present In The Early Work.

I Won't Talk To You About My Family And You Won't Talk To Me About Yours. Family Talk Is Either Boring Or Self-pitying. Or It's Gothic, Like A Faulkner Novel. Who Needs To Talk About It? It's Enough To Live It.

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It's Not A Pretty World, Papa.' 'i've Noticed,' My Father Said Softly.

Oh, It Makes A Difference, I Thought. And If It Doesn't Make A Difference You Will Make It Make A Difference.

Making A Difference

I Have Faith In The Torah. I Am Not Afraid Of Truth.

I Looked At My Right Hand, The Hand With Which I Painted. There Was Power In That Hand. Power To Create And Destroy. Power To Bring Pleasure And Pain. Power To Amuse And Horrify. There Was In That Hand The Demonic And The Divine At One And The Same Time. The Demonic And The Divine Were Two Aspects Of The Same Force. Creation Was Demonic And Divine. Creativity Was Demonic And Divine. I Was Demonic And Divine.

I Went Away And Cried To The Master Of The Universe, "what Have You Done To Me? A Mind Like This I Need For A Son? A Heart I Need For A Son, A Soul I Need For A Son, Compassion I Want From My Son, Righteousness, Mercy, Strength To Suffer And Carry Pain, That I Want From My Son, Not A Mind Without A Soul!"

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It Is When You Are Angry That You Must Watch How You Talk.

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Art Is Whether Or Not There Is A Scream In Him Wanting To Get Out In A Special Way.

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I Learned A Long Time Ago, Reuven, That A Blink Of An Eye In Itself Is Nothing. But The Eye That Blinks, That Is Something. A Span Of Life Is Nothing. But The Man Who Lives That Span, He Is Something. He Can Fill That Tiny Span With Meaning, So Its Quality Is Immeasurable Though Its Quantity May Be Insignificant. Do You Understand What I Am Saying? A Man Must Fill His Life With Meaning, Meaning Is Not Automatically Given To Life.

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Meaning Of Life

I Think That To A Very Great Extent We Are Partners With The Divine In This Enterprise Called History. That Is An Ongoing Relationship, And There Is Absolutely No Guarantee That Things Will Automatically Work Out To Our Best Advantage.

Guarantees That

If A Person Has A Contribution To Make, He Must Make It In Public. If Learning Is Not Made Public, It Is A Waste.

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.

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