Fiddler on the Roof quotes

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Tevye
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View Quote Tevye: As Abraham said, "I am a stranger in a strange land..."
Mendel: Moses said that.
Tevye: Ah. Well, as King David said, "I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue."
Mendel: That was also Moses.
Tevye: For a man who was slow of tongue, he talked a lot.

View Quote Tevye: Thank you, your honor. You are a good man. If I may say so, it's too bad you're not a Jew.
Constable: [laughs] That's what I like about you, Tevye. You're always joking.

View Quote Unknown: (gestures at different people) He's right, and he's right? They can't both be right.
Tevye: You know, you are also right.

View Quote Villager: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
Tevye: Very good. That way the whole world will be blind and toothless.

View Quote [Last lines] All right, children. Let's go.

View Quote [Opening lines] A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say 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. You may ask, why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous? Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: Tradition!

View Quote [to Chava] 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?

View Quote [to God] As the good book says... aaahh, why should I tell You what the good book says?

View Quote [to God] I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can't You choose someone else?

View Quote [to God] It may sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. After all, with Your help, I'm starving to death.

View Quote [to God] Sometimes I wonder, when it gets too quiet up there, if You are thinking, "What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?"

View Quote [to God] You made many many poor people, I realize of course it's no shame to be poor, but it's no great honor either. Now what would be so terrible if I had a small fortune?

View Quote Ah, children, they are your blessing in your old age. But of course my Aaron couldn't give me children. Between you and me, Golde, he hardly tried.

View Quote As the good book says, if you spit in the air, it lands in your face.

View Quote Because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.