The czar was always sending us commands – you shall not do this and you shall not do that – till there was very little left that we might do, except pay tribute and die. Mary Antin Read Quote
Our mothers are racked with the pains of our physical birth; we ourselves suffer the longer pains of our spiritual growth. Mary Antin Read Quote
You went up to be examined with the other Jewish children, your heart heavy about that matter of your nose. Mary Antin Read Quote
If education, culture, the higher life were shining things to be worshiped from afar, he had still a means left whereby he could draw one step nearer to them. Mary Antin Read Quote
As we moved along in a little procession, I was delighted with the illumination of the streets. So many lamps, and they burned until morning, my father said, and so people did not need to carry lanterns. Mary Antin Read Quote
His struggle for a bare living left him no time to take advantage of the public evening school. In time he learned to read, to follow a conversation or lecture; but he never learned to write correctly; and his pronunciation remains extremely foreign to this day. Mary Antin Read Quote
One positive command he gave us: You shall love and honor your emperor. In every congregation a prayer must be said for the czar’s health, or the chief of police would close the synagogue. Mary Antin Read Quote
