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Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel Quotes

Professor

A renowned Jewish author and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Elie Wiesel is known for his profound literary achievements and for recording and spreading the history of the Holocaust as a survivor. His works deeply reveal the terror of the Nazi Holocaust and the universal nature of human suffering.

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All People Ifs Men Holocaust Humans Knows Thinking World Mean War

Famous Elie Wiesel Quotes

“Watchman, what of the night? So many victims in so many places need help. We need, above all, to be shaken out of our indifference—the greatest source of danger in the world. For, remember: the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. The opposite of faith is not arrogance by indifference; the opposite of culture is not ignorance but indifference; the opposite of art is not ugliness but indifference. And the opposite of peace is indifference to both peace and war—indifference to hunger and persecution, to imprisonment and humiliation, indifference to torture and persecution.”

Book:The Six Days of Destruction: Meditations Toward Hope

Source: The Six Days of Destruction: Meditations Toward Hope

“I spent most of my time talking to God more than to people.”

People God Talking My Time Talking To God

Author:Elie Wiesel

“He wants to see whether we are capable of overcoming out base instincts, of killing the Satan within ourselves. We have no right to despair. And if he punishes us mercilessly, it is a sign that He loves us that much more.”

Ifs Want Despair Capable Overcoming Instinct Killing Satan

Book:Night

Source: Night

“Will you join me in hearing the case for keeping weapons from those who preach death to Israel and America?”

America Cases Weapons Israel Hearing

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Today, as yesterday, a nation is judged by its attitude towards refugees.”

Today Nations Attitude Yesterday Judged Refugee

Author:Elie Wiesel

“We must choose between the violence of adults and the smiles of children.”

Children Violence Adults

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Simply because, one hand, there are the haters, The hater has power. All we can do is oppose it, or one becomes an accomplice.”

Hands Can Do Accomplices

Author:Elie Wiesel

“It may well be that our means are fairly limited and our possibilities restricted when it comes to applying pressure on our government But is this a reason to do nothing? Despair is nor an answer Neither is resignation Resignation only leads to indifference, which is not merely a sin but a punishment.”

Wells May Mean Reason Government Sin Answers Possibility Despair Pressure Punishment Indifference Resignation

Author:Elie Wiesel

“My ambition really was, even as a child, to be a writer, a commentator, and a teacher, but a teacher of Talmud.”

Children Teacher Teaching Ambition Commentators My Ambition

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Therefore, all my adult life, since I began my life as an author, or as a teacher, I always try to listen to the victim.”

Trying Teacher Teaching Adults Victim

Author:Elie Wiesel

“I belong to a tradition that believes that the death of a single child is a blemish on creation.”

Believe Children Creation Tradition Single Child

Author:Elie Wiesel

“For me, every hour is grace.”

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Whenever an angel says "Be not afraid!" you'd better start worrying. A big assignment is on the way.”

Way Bigs Worry Angel Not Afraid Assignments

Author:Elie Wiesel

“I think he is condemned by himself to loneliness. God is One: he was, he is, he will be always One. One is so lonely. Maybe that is why he created human beings--to feel less lonely. But as human beings betray his creation, he may become even lonelier.”

Thinking Feels Humans May God Human Beings Loneliness Creation Lonely Betray So Lonely

Author:Elie Wiesel

“I don't believe in collective guilt. The children of killers are not killers, but children.”

Believe Children Guilt Don't Believe Collectives Killers

Author:Elie Wiesel

“We still are looking for someone who knows the secret of immortality. Only God is immortal; we are not.”

Knows Stills Secret Immortality Immortal

Author:Elie Wiesel

“A holy war is a contradiction in terms. War dehumanizes, war diminishes, war debases all those who wage it.”

War Term Holy Contradiction Diminish Holy War

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Remembering is a noble and necessary act. The call of memory, the call to memory, reaches us from the very dawn of history. No commandment figures so frequently, so insistently, in the Bible. It is incumbent upon us to remember the good we have received, and the evil we have suffered.”

Remember Evil Memories Figures Noble Dawn Commandments Incumbents

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Terrorism must be outlawed by all civilized nations not explained or rationalized, but fought and eradicated. Nothing can, nothing will justify the murder of innocent people and helpless children.”

People Children Nations Murder Terrorism Innocent Justify Civilized Helpless Civilized Nations

Book:From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences

Source: From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences

“From time immemorial, people have talked about peace without achieving it. Do we simply lack enough experience? Though we talk peace, we wage war. Sometimes we even wage war in the name of peace. . . . War may be too much a part of history to be eliminatedever.”

People May War Sometimes Enough Names Too Much Achieve Peace War Achieving Peace

Book:From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences

Source: From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences

“What do all my books have in common? A commitment to memory.”

Book Memories Common Commitment

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Philosophy is a slow process of logic and logical discourse: A bringing B bringing C and so forth. In mysticism you can jump from A to Z. But the ultimate objective is the same. It's knowledge. It's truth.”

Philosophy Process Logic Ultimate Objectives Mysticism Logical Discourse

Book:Elie Wiesel: Conversations

Source: Elie Wiesel: Conversations

“If you ask me what I want to achieve, it's to create an awareness, which is already the beginning of teaching.”

Ifs Want Asks Teaching Achieve Awareness Ask Me

Book:Elie Wiesel: Conversations

Source: Elie Wiesel: Conversations

“What I don't like today is, to put it coarsely, the phony Hasidism, the phony mysticism. Many students say, "Teach me mysticism." It's a joke.”

Today Teach Students Jokes Mysticism Phony

Author:Elie Wiesel

“The most important question a human being has to face... What is it? The question, Why are we here?”

Humans Important Faces Human Beings Important Questions

Author:Elie Wiesel

“God means movement, and not explanation.”

Mean Movement Explanation

Book:Legends of Our Time

Source: Legends of Our Time

“Every single human being is a unique human being. And, therefore, it's so criminal to do something to that human being, because he or she represents humanity.”

Humans Humanity Human Beings Unique Criminals

Author:Elie Wiesel

“If there is one person on the planet who still is suffering from loneliness and from pain or despair, and we don't know about it, or we don't want to know about it, then something is wrong with the world.”

Ifs Knows World Want Persons Stills Pain Suffering Loneliness Planets Despair

Author:Elie Wiesel

“I cannot cure everybody. I cannot help everybody. But to tell the lonely person that I am not far or different from that lonely person, that I am with him or her, that's all I think we can do and we should do.”

Thinking Should Persons Different Helping Can Do Lonely Cures Lonely Person

Author:Elie Wiesel

“The more we know, the more pain we have. But because we are human beings, this must be. Otherwise we become objects rather than subjects.”

Knows Humans Pain Human Beings Subjects Objects Endurance

Author:Elie Wiesel

“A voice behind me asked, "Where is God? Where is He? Where can He be now?" and a voice within me answered: "Where? Here He is - He has been hanged here, on these gallows."”

Has Beens Voice Behinds Atheism Gallows

Book:Night ; Dawn ; Day

Source: Night ; Dawn ; Day

“In the word question, there is a beautiful word - quest. I love that word. We are all partners in a quest. The essential questions have no answers. You are my question, and I am yours - and then there is dialogue. The moment we have answers, there is no dialogue. Questions unite people.”

People Moments Beautiful Answers Essentials Partners Dialogue Quests Beautiful Words Essential Questions

Author:Elie Wiesel

“People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell.”

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Some of the men spoke of God: His mysterious ways, the sins of the Jewish people, and the redemption to come. As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice.”

People Men Way Jobs Justice Sin Existence He Man Praying Absolutes Mysterious Redemption Spokes Doubted Mysterious Ways

Book:Night

Source: Night

“I did not weep, and it pained me that i could not weep. But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might perhaps have found something like--free at last!”

Might Lasts Found Tears Conscience Depth Recess

Book:Night

Source: Night

“The yellow star? Oh well, what of it? You dont die of it.”

Wells Dies Stars Yellow Oh Well

Book:Night: with related readings

Source: Night: with related readings

“you can do something. You can, even for one person Don't turn away; help. Because those who suffer, often suffer not because of the person or the group that inflicts the suffering; they seem to suffer because nobody cares.”

Persons Helping Seems Care Suffering Turns Can Do Groups Can Do Something Nobody Cares

Author:Elie Wiesel

“None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims.”

War Position Victim Obligation

Book:From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences

Source: From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences

“The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Indifference creates evil. Hatred is evil itself. Indifference is what allows evil to be strong, what gives it power.”

Giving Hate Evil Strong Love Is Hatred Opposites Indifference Torture

Author:Elie Wiesel

“I think the Messianic concept, which is the Jewish offering to mankind, is a great victory. What does it mean? It means that history has a sense, a meaning, a direction; it goes somewhere, and necessarily in a good direction--the Messiah.”

Thinking Mean Doe Mankind Victory Concepts Offering Messiah Great Victory

Book:Elie Wiesel: Conversations

Source: Elie Wiesel: Conversations

“There is Israel, for us at least. What no other generation had, we have. We have Israel in spite of all the dangers, the threats and the wars, we have Israel. We can go to Jerusalem. Generations and generations could not and we can.”

War Generations Danger Threat Israel Spite Jerusalem

Book:Elie Wiesel: Conversations

Source: Elie Wiesel: Conversations

“We are heading towards catastrophe. I think the world is going to pieces. I am very pessimistic. Why? Because the world hasn't been punished yet, and the only punishment that could be adequate is the nuclear destruction of the world.”

Thinking World Pieces Destruction Nuclear Punishment Catastrophe Adequate Headings Pessimistic Nuclear Destruction

Book:Elie Wiesel: Conversations

Source: Elie Wiesel: Conversations

“The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples. I am the sum total of their experiences, and so are you.”

Book Mother Father Teacher Generations Son Daughter Disciple Mother And Daughter Father And Son

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Education in the key to preventing the cycle of violence and hatred that marred the 20th century from repeating itself in the 21st century.”

Education Violence Century Keys Hatred Cycles 21st Century 20th Century Preventing Cycle Of Violence

Author:Elie Wiesel

“I have no doubt that faith is only pure when it does not negate the faith of another. I have no doubt that evil can be fought and that indifference is no option. I have no doubt that fanaticism is dangerous. And of all the books in the world on life, I have no doubt that the life of one person weighs more than them all.”

World Life Persons Doe Book Evil Doubt Dangerous Pure Indifference No Doubt Fanaticism

Author:Elie Wiesel

“When has religion ever been unifying? Religion has introduced many wars in this world, enough bloodshed and violence.”

World War Enough Evil Religious Violence This World Bloodshed Unifying

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Memory feeds a culture, nourishes hope and makes a human, human.”

Humans Culture Memories

Author:Elie Wiesel

“The primary task of a Jew in turbulent times is to be Jewish.”

Tasks Jew Primaries Turbulent Times

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Fanaticism in many lands has surfaced as the greatest threat to the world. Indifference to its consequences would be a serious mistake.”

World Would Be Mistake Land Serious Consequence Threat Indifference Fanaticism Serious Mistakes

Author:Elie Wiesel

“Emphasis must be put on learning: there is no substitute to education. It can be briefly formulated in a few words: always, whatever you do in life, think higher and feel deeper.”

Thinking Feels Higher Deeper Substitutes Emphasis Few Words

Author:Elie Wiesel

About the Author

Born: September 30, 1928
Died: July 2, 2016
Known for: Professor
Quotes: 584

Related Topics

People Ifs Men Holocaust Humans Knows Thinking World Mean War

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

NightRelated source material

From the Kingdom of Memory: ReminiscencesRelated source material

Elie Wiesel: ConversationsRelated source material

The ForgottenRelated source material

The Judges: A NovelRelated source material

Legends of Our TimeRelated source material

Night: with related readingsRelated source material

Night ; Dawn ; DayRelated source material

Open HeartRelated source material

All Rivers Run to the Sea: MemoirsRelated source material

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