Mary Antin Quotes


You went up to be examined with the other Jewish children, your heart heavy about that matter of your nose. - Mary Antin



You heard on all sides that the brightest Jewish children were turned down if the examining officers did not like the turn of their noses. - Mary Antin



We are not born all at once, but by bits. The body first, and the spirit later; and the birth and growth of the spirit, in those who are attentive to their own inner life, are slow and exceedingly painful. - Mary Antin



There was one public school for boys, and one for girls, but Jewish children were admitted in limited numbers - only ten to a hundred; and even the lucky ones had their troubles. - Mary Antin



The first meal was an object lesson of much variety. My father produced several kinds of food, ready to eat, without any cooking, from little tin cans that had printing all over them. - Mary Antin