Quotessence
Home / Authors / Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel Quotes

Professor

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleIfsMenHolocaustHumansKnowsThinkingWorldMeanWar

Famous Elie Wiesel Quotes

“But because of his telling, many who did not believe have come to believe, and some who did not care have come to care. He tells the story, out of infinite pain, partly to honor the dead, but also to warn the living - to warn the living that it could happen again and that it must never happen again. Better than one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all. (vi)”

IfsNeedsBelieveHeartMeanStoriesHappensCarePainBrokenHonorThousandDecidedInfiniteRetelling
Book:Night
Create image

“I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I hear that particular piece by Beethoven, my eyes close and out of the darkness emerges the pale and melancholy face of my Polish comrade bidding farewell to an audience of dying men.”

MenEyeTodayFacesGivenForgetDarknessAudiencePiecesDyingParticularMelancholyNever ForgetConcertsPaleFarewellPolishComradeBidding
Book:Night
Create image

“There are so many who know more than I do, who understand the world better than I do. I would be truly learned, a great scholar, if only I could retain everything I've learned from those I have known. But then would I still be me? And isn't all that only words? Words grow old, too; they change their meaning and their usage. They get sick just as we do; they die of their wounds and then they are relegated to the dust of dictionaries. And where am I in all this?”

IfsKnowsWorldStillsWould BeDiesGrowsKnownSickWoundsDustI've LearnedScholarDictionaryUsage
Book:The Time of the Uprooted: A Novel
Create image

“Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking and loving and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new and deeper meaning. The tragedy of man is that he doesn't know how to distinguish between day and night. He says things at night that should only be said by day.”

ThinkingKnowsMenShouldHas BeensSaidDreamNightKnow HowTragedyDeeperIntenseEchoesDay And NightDeeper MeaningDreaming At Night
Book:Dawn
Create image

“It was pitch dark. I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek's soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings--his last hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again...When I awoke, in the daylight, I could see Juliek, opposite me, slumped over, dead. Near him lay his violin, smashed, trampled, a strange overwhelming little corpse.”

LittlesSoulPlayWholeLastsPastDarkStrangeOppositesLaysStringsOverwhelmingBowsCorpsesViolinDaylightGliding
Author:Elie Wiesel
Create image

“And I, the for­mer mys­tic, was think­ing: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God. When Adam and Eve de­ceived You, You chased them from par­adise. When You were dis­pleased by Noah’s generation, You brought down the Flood. When Sodom lost Your fa­vour, You caused the heav­ens to rain down fire and damna­tion. But look at these men whom You have be­trayed, al­low­ing them to be tortured, slaugh­tered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray be­fore You! They praise Your name!”

ThinkingMenLooksNamesLostFireGreaterGenerationsPrayingLowsRainStrongerPraiseAlsAdamBurnedFloodAdam And EveTics
Author:Elie Wiesel
Create image

“My faceless neighbor spoke up: “Don’t be deluded. Hitler has made it clear that he will annihilate all Jews before the clock strikes twelve.” I exploded: “What do you care what he said? Would you want us to consider him a prophet? His cold eyes stared at me. At last he said, wearily: “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.”

PeopleWantMadeSaidEyeCareLastsClearColdPromiseJewStrikesNeighborMade ItClockProphetSpokesTwelveDeludedFacelessDo You CareCold Eyes
Book:Night
Create image