“I’m the most Western Jewish of them all. In other words, to exaggerate, not one second of calm has been granted me, nothing has been granted me, everything must be earned, not only the present and future, but the past as well—something that is perhaps given every human being—this too must be earned, and this probably entails the hardest work of all. If the Earth turns to the right—I’m not sure it does—then I would have to turn to the left to make up for the past. But as it is I don’t have the least bit of strength for these obligations; I can’t carry the world on my shoulders—I can barely carry my winter coat.”

—LETTER TO MILENA