Tevye: [singing] Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play? Golde: [singing] I don't remember growing older. When did they?
Perchik: In this world it is the rich who are the criminals. Someday their wealth will be ours. Tevye: That would be nice. If they would agree, I would agree.
[Hodel is leaving on a train for Siberia] Hodel: Papa, God alone knows when we shall see each other again. Tevye: Then we will leave it in His hands.
[Perchik and Hodel have announced their engagement] Tevye: He loves her. Love, it's a new style... On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they?... On the other hand, they decided without parents, without a matchmaker!... On the other ...
[to God] Tevye: 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?"
Motel: Times are changing, Reb Tevye. The thing is, over a year ago, your daughter, Tzeitel, and I gave each other our pledge that we would marry. Tevye: You gave each other a... pledge? Tzeitel: Yes, Papa. We gave each other our pledge.
[Tevye admires the lavishness of a butcher's home] Tevye: And all this from killing innocent animals.
Lazar Wolf: How is your brother-in-law? In America? Tevye: Oh, he's doing very well. Lazar Wolf: Oh, he wrote you? Tevye: No, not lately. Lazar Wolf: Then how do you know? Tevye: If he was doing badly, he would write.
Constable: You're an honest, decent person. Even though you are a Jew. Tevye: Oh... THANK you, your honor. How often does a man get a compliment like that?
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.
Lazar Wolf: Have a drink? Tevye: I won't insult you by saying no.
Tevye: [to Golde] Quiet, woman, before I get angry, because when I get angry even flies don't dare to fly!
Golde: Oh, you're finally here. Come, let's go home now. Tevye: I want to see Motel's new machine. Golde: You can see it some other time. Let's go home now. Tevye: Quiet, woman, before I get angry! Because when I get angry, even flies don't dare to f...
Perchik: I'm a very good teacher. Hodel: I heard that the Rabbi who must praise himself has a congregation of one.
Motel: [on being evicted] Rabbi, we've been waiting all our lives for the Messiah. Wouldn't now be a good time for Him to come? Rabbi: We'll have to wait for him someplace else. Meanwhile, let's start packing.
Chava: [to Tevye] The world is changing, Papa.
[first lines] Tevye: 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. ...
Tevye: Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as... as... as a fiddler on the roof!
