"If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistful silences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows about the details of her mother's life - without flinching or whining - the stronger the daughter."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"The painful things seemed like knots on a beautiful necklace, necessary for keeping the beads in place."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"I wanted to cry, but I realized that I was too old for that. I would be a woman soon and I would have to learn how to live with a divided heart."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"He was golden and beautiful as a sunset."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"I moved my arms through the water, feeling them float on the surface, watching the waves and wake that followed my gesture. Here was magic, I thought. Here was something holy. "
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"They sang the words in unison, yet somehow created a web of sounds with their voices. It was like hearing a piece of fabric woven with all the colors of a rainbow. I did not know that such beauty could be formed by the human mouth. I had never heard harmony before."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"I am so honored to be the vessel into which you pour this story of pain and strength."
— Anita Diamant

"5. My husband's words found their mark, and I recalled something that Zilpah had told me when I was a child in the red tent, and far too young to understand her meaning. “We are all born of the same mother,” she said. After a lifetime, I knew that to be true.
"
— Anita Diamant

"I could not get my fill of looking.

There should be a song for women to sing at this momentm or a prayer to recite. But perhaps there is none because there are no words strong enough to name that moment. "
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"One of his tears fell in my mouth, where it became a blue sapphire, source of strength, source of strength and eternal hope."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)

"I had Benia's hands, Meryt's friendship, the feel of newborn flesh, the smiles of new mothers, a little girl who laughed in my kitchen, a house of my own. It was more than enough."
— Anita Diamant

"I recognized my home by the smell-a mixture of coriander, clover and Benia's cedary scent."
— Anita Diamant (The Red Tent)