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Money is the world's curse." "May the Lord smite me with it! And may I never recover!
-Perchik, Tevye (cackles) Here's my wedding present if she marries Lazar Wolf!!
-Fruma Sarah May God bless and keep the Czar...far away from us!
-Rabbi How do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word:TRADITION!
-Tevye It was a miracle! A miracle!
-Motel Without our traditons, life would be as shaky as...as...as a fiddler on the roof!
-Tevye If my Grandmother Tzeitel, may she rest in peace, took the trouble to come from the other world to tell us about the tailor, all we can say is that it's for the best and it couldn't possibly be any better. Amen.
-Golde A tailor? She must have heard wrong, she meant a butcher!" "I'll tell her.
-Golde, Tevye Dear God, you made many, many poor people. I realize there's no shame in being poor...but it's no great honor either. So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?
-Tevye A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But in our little village of Anatevka, you might say that every one of us is a fiddler on the roof:trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy.
-Tevye Grandmother Tzeitel? How did she look?" "Well, for a woman who's dead for 30 years, she looked very good.
-Golde, Tevye Chava, I found him! Won't you be a lucky bride! He's handsome, he's tall, that is from side to side.
-Tzeitel imitating Yente The tailor Motel Camzoil!" "It was a butcher!" "The tailor Motel Camzoil!" "His name is Lazar Wolf!
-Zombies, Tevye Hodel, oh Hodel, have I made a match for you! He's handsome, he's young, all right, he's 62. But he's a nice man, a good catch, true? True. I promise you'll be happy, and even if you're not, there's more to life than that, don't ask me what!
-Tzeitel imitating Yente How can you allow it, HOW?? How could you let your daughter take my place, live in my house, carry my keys, and wear my clothes, PEARLS, HOW???
-Fruma Sarah You are a good man. If I may say so, it's too bad you're not a Jew.
-Tevye You're honest and decent, even though you are a Jew." "Oh, thank you, Your Honor. How often does a man get a compliment like that?
-Constable, Tevye Do you feel about me the way they feel about you? I didn't think you would.
-Fyedka Such a dark and horrible dream! And to think it was brought on because YOU went to see that butcher!
-Golde You won't be sorry!" "I won't be sorry? I'm sorry already!
-Motel, Tevye On the other hand, he has absolutely nothing. On the other hand, things could never get worse for him, only better.
-Tevye Please don't shout at me Reb Tevye.
-Motel Either you're out of your mind or you're crazy! He must be crazy!
-Tevye Arranging a match for yourself? What are you? Everything? The bridegroom, matchmaker, and guests in one? I suppose you'll perform the ceremony, too?
-Tevye But we made an agreement! And with us, an agreement is an agreement." "Is that more important than I am, Papa?
-Tevye, Tzeitel A perfect fit. Like a glove. This match was made exactly to measure." "Perfect fit? Made to measure? Motel, stop talking like a tailor and tell me, who is it?
-Motel and Tevye What do I think? I never really liked him. Why should I? You can have a fine conversation with him if you talk about kidneys and livers. On the other hand, not everyone has to be a scholar. And with a butcher my daughter will surely never know hunger.
-Tevye I know we are the chosen people. But once in a while, can't you choose someone else?
-Tevye As Abraham said, 'I'm a stranger in a strange land.' " "Moses said that." "Forgive me. As King David said, 'I'm slow of speech and tongue'." "That was also Moses." "For a man with a slow tongue, he talked a lot.
-Tevye, Avram Maybe the Tzar wanted the land." "Maybe a plague?" "May the Tzar have his very own plague." "Amen!
-Townspeople A poor girl without a dowry can't be particular. If you want hair, marry a monkey.
-Golde What does a poor skinny tailor want with Tzeitel?" "They've always been friends. They talk, they play-" "Play? What do they play?
-Yente, Golde Quiet, woman, before I get angry, because when I get angry even flies don't dare to fly!
-Tevye (admires the butcher's home) And all this from killing innocent animals.
-Tevye He loves her. Love, it's a new style... On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they?
-Tevye You may ask, how did this tradition get started? I'll tell you...I don't know.
-Tevye You'll be late." "Golde, I won't be late." "You'll be late." "I won't be late! I won't be late! If you ever stop talking, I won't be late!
-Golde, Tevye Where are you going?" "Chicago. In America." "Chicago, America? We are going to New York, America. We'll be neighbors.
-Tevye, Lazar Wolf I have some advice for you. Get off my land. This is still my home, my land. Get off my land.
-Tevye On the other hand, did Adam and Eve have a matchmaker?...Well, yes, they did. And it seems these two have the same Matchmaker.
-Tevye As the good book says 'Each shall seek his own kind'. In other words, a bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?
-Tevye An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!" "Very good. That way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.
-Villager, Tevye Papa, God alone knows when we wil see each other again." "Then we will leave it in his hands.
-Hodel, Tevye He asks you to leave your father and mother and join him in that frozen wasteland and marry you there?" "No, Papa. He didn't ask me to go. I want to go.
-Tevye, Hodel I think I can help." "Certainly. Like a bandage can help a corpse.
-Motel, Tevye Accept them? How can I accept them? Can I deny everything I believe in? On the other hand, can I deny my own daughter?
-Tevye On the other hand...No...there is no other hand! NO, CHAVA!! NO!!
-Tevye Let me tell you about myself:I'm a I'm a pleasant fellow, charming, honest, ambitious, quite bright, and very modest.
-Fyedka Good day, Chava." "Good day..." "Fyedka." "...Fyedka.
-Fyedka, Chava (to God) As the Good Book says...(laughs) Why should I be telling you what the good book says?
-Tevye Ah, children, they are your blessing in your old age. My poor Aaron, God rest his soul, couldn't give me children. Between you and me, Golde, he hardly tried.
-Yente If the rich could hire others to die for them, we, the poor, would all make a nice living.
-Mordcha (to God) Sometimes I think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, "What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?"
-Tevye "My little Tzeitel who you named for me, Motel's bride was meant to be!" - Grandma Tzeitel
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