Quote#Time
The past is our cradle, not our prison, and there is danger as well…
Quote byIsrael Zangwill · 1864–1926
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Voice of Jerusalem, Macmillan, 1921, p. 270.
English (original)
The past is our cradle, not our prison, and there is danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition.
— Israel Zangwill
More from Israel Zangwill
America is God's Crucible, the great Melting-Pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming!
No Jew was ever fool enough to turn Christian unless he was a clever man.
Scratch the Christian and you find the pagan — spoiled.
No... the real American has not yet arrived. He is only in the Crucible, I tell you—he will be the fusion of all races, perhaps the coming superman.
How full and rich a world Theirs to inhabit is— Sweet scent of grass and bloom, Playmates’ glad symphony, Cool touch of western wind, Sunshine’s divine caress.
Oh, for the simple life, For tents and starry skies!