"If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the 
human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of 
the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard 
of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other 
people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to 
the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's list of great 
names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse 
learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He 
has made a marvellous fight in the world, in all the ages; and has done it 
with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused 
for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet 
with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek 
and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other 
peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned 
out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, 
beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no 
infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no 
dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; 
all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"
Mark Twain