“...by the time you've finished naming a thing, it has already changed and the name you gave it no longer defines it exactly...”

“You've been the rabbi here for thirty years and these guys who've never set foot here want to decide who should be rabbi or not. And to lead prayer in Hebrew for Jews who speak Arabic, they want you to write in French. So I say they're nuts.”

“I believe God loves those moments when we do without him.”

“This building fool could only be Bess of Hardwicke, a woman whose name is seldom seen in print without the word “redoubtable” in front of it. I wondered if anyone ever called her redoubtable to her face. I redoubted it.”

“The truth is that not story or life lived goes on without the experiences changing you. For better or worse, life does that. The events that take place make you who you are. Sometimes they take more than you have to give.”

“Life can catch you off guard. It smacks you in the face when you least expect it. There is nothing that you can do but accept what has been given to you and work with what you have.”

“All things are defined by names. Change the name, and you change the thing.”