If I have a child at home, I demand from him much more than what I demand from a dog at home.
And I demand much more from a dog than what I demand from a potato.
A potato has a good life.
It’s happy and cozy.
Nobody scolds it.
It’s the wonderful life of a potato.
Now some of these potatoes have 3 billion dollars, so they are rich potatoes.
Some other people will possibly never be potatoes.
So, they have a harder life.
They have to strive, they have to work.
How good is it to be a potato?
It’s not that good to be a potato.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From an interview with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz by Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, on Jan. 26, 2014, in Scottsdale, AZ