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Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum Quotes

Woman of letters

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AllIfsPeaceWorldSometimesEnoughHateMomentsPrayerSufferingThinkingAbleAcceptanceEnergyFeelsFightingGivingHumansLife IsLovePeople

Famous Etty Hillesum Quotes

“ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for your sorrow, and instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge-from which new sorrows will be born for others-then sorrow will never cease in this world and will multiply.”

IfsWorldGivingBornSpaceGriefClearSadnessThis WorldBearsOughtSorrowHatredRevengeDuesHonestlyCeaseDecentCosmicShelterReserves
Author:Etty Hillesum
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“All disasters stem from us. Why is there a war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at my neighbour. Because I and my neighbour and everyone else do not have enough love. Yet we could fight war and all its excrescences by releasing each day, the love which is shackled inside us, and giving it a chance to live.”

GivingWarEnoughMightFightingChanceDisasterEach DayNow And ThenStemNeighbourSnapsEnough Love
Book:An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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