Marek Halter > Quotes

“With all the wonders Moses was performing, there was one I did not think would ever come to pass: that we would finally be reunited. That I would once again kiss his neck as I had loved to do. That I would see him clasp his sons to his breast.”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“What could be more beautiful than this lake, these hills, the flowers on the apple tree? Galilee is beautiful. We are beautiful. You, Miriam, our friends... The Almighty has given us this beauty. Why would he want us to ignore it? On the contrary, we should feed on the joy and happiness he gives us, not just the horrors of Herod!”
― Marek Halter, Mary of Nazareth

“You are rich in every way, and I am nothing but the reflection I see in your eyes.”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“This did not prevent him from going to print shop every morning and working as conscientiously as ever, following the advice of Yochanan ben Zakkai: 'If you are planting an olive tree when you learn that the Messiah has come, finish planting the olive tree and then go to greet the messiah.”
― Marek Halter, The Book of Abraham

“The Infinite struck the void with the sound of the Word.”
― Marek Halter, The Book of Abraham

“Now you know who I am. I haven't hidden anything from you. My soul is as naked as my face."
She kept retreating, until her back hit the rock. "What about me?" she said. "Do you know who I am?"
"Jethro's daughter."
She laughed, and held out her arms and hands, their color blending into the darkness. "With skin like this? Do you really think so?"
Before she could react, he imprisoned her fingers and drew her to him. "You are Zipporah, the Cushite, the woman Moses saved from the hands of the shepherds and at the well of Irmna. You are the woman who always knows where to find me, the woman who brought me food without knowing who I was.”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“That is the truth, my boy. All we have left of our ancestors' great covenant with the Everlasting, who brought them out of nothingness, is darkness and wrath. With every day that passes, Horeb's wrath feeds on our sins. He demands justice and righteousness. He watches us, impatiently. He knows our past, but he also knows the future that awaits us. He sees that we are advancing into darkness. In his impatience, he rumbles to shake us our of our torpor. But all he obtains in return is fear, even though what he wants is a little courage and dignity!”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“Abram," he said, "allow me also to bow to your wife, Sarai. Perhaps her beauty seems quite normal to all of you, and she doesn't sear your eyes with rapture. But she is the most beautiful woman the One God has ever set across my path. And I have no doubt that he placed her by your side as a sign of all the beautiful things he intends to offer your nation."
And Melchizedek bowed to Sarai, seized a tail of her tunic, and brought it to his lips. When he stood up again, his mouth was quivering.
"I am old," he whispered so that only she could hear, "but that's fortunate, because if I were young and knew you existed but could never be mine, I wouldn't be able to go on living.”
― Marek Halter, Sarah

“They said I was the most beautiful of women. My beauty was a beauty that inspired as much fear as desire.”
― Marek Halter, Sarah

“Because he thinks he is a thief!" Jethro cried. "He thinks he stole what he is. He's fighting his own shadow and his own heart.”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“Below on the beach, the surf also seemed the same, although the sea was more transparent. In the light of day, the hollow formed by the terrace and the cave seemed as tiny as a nest. They themselves were merely a man and a woman lost in the immensity.”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“You are the woman who desires my kiss, and I thirst for you.”
― Marek Halter, Zipporah, Wife of Moses

“A printer can do the same thing and much more. He can preserve the Law, but he can also preserve the words of madmen. And in many copies! The printer's art will serve everyone: the faithful and the unfaithful, the righteous and the wicked. And as you know from having read it, 'The wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot rest.' God grant that we won't have to regret this new invention.”
― Marek Halter, The Book of Abraham

“There was nothing humble in his gaze. Nothing brotherly, either. It was the kind of look that made Sililli's hackles rise. The look of a young animal, inflamed by Sarai's beauty and heavy with desire.”
― Marek Halter, Sarah

“He took my fingers in his, and for a long moment we remained still. Two old bodies linked together by our hands and by the thousands of tender words we no longer need to speak.”
― Marek Halter, Sarah

“I no longer know what the Lord wants of us... Even what we're doing here seems pointless to me! What's the use of the books I've brought with me? All those bookcases in the house? The things we learn, the things we discuss? Not so long ago, I was convinced that cultivating our minds would help us change the course of this world. I told myself, 'We women should change. Then we might be able to curb the folly of men.' I don't believe that now. As soon as I leave Magdala, as soon as I spend a day in the streets of Tarichea, I get the feeling we're becoming more and more learned and more and more useless.”
― Marek Halter, Mary of Nazareth