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Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum Quotes

Woman of letters

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Famous Etty Hillesum Quotes

“A desire to kneel down sometimes pulses through my body, or rather it is as if my body has been meant and made for the act of kneeling. Sometimes, in moments of deep gratitude, kneeling down becomes an overwhelming urge, head deeply bowed, hands before my face.”

IfsHas BeensMadeSometimesMomentsBodyHandsFacesDesireGratitudeUrgesOverwhelmingPulseKneelingDeep GratitudeOverwhelming Urge
Book:Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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“We human beings cause monstrous conditions, but precisely because we cause them we soon learn to adapt ourselves to them. Only if we become such that we can no longer adapt ourselves, only if, deep inside, we rebel against every kind of evil, will we be able to put a stop to it. ... while everything within us does not yet scream out in protest, so long will we find ways of adapting ourselves, and the horrors will continue.”

IfsWayHumansKindLongDoeAbleEvilCausesHuman BeingsConditionsHorrorProtestRebelScreamMonstrousDeep InsideAdapting
Book:Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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“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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“If one burdens the future with one's worries, it cannot grow organically. I am filled with confidence, not that I shall succeed in worldly things, but that even when things go badly for me I shall still find life good and worth living.”

IfsStillsGrowsWorryConfidenceSucceedFilledBurdenGood LifeWorldlyWorth LivingWorldly Things
Book:An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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“When I pray, I never pray for myself, always for others, or else I hold a silly, naive, or deadly serious dialogue with what is deepest inside me, which for the sake of convenience I call God. Praying to God for something for yourself strikes me as being too childish for words. To pray for another's well-being is something I find childish as well; one should only pray that another should have enough strength to shoulder his burden. If you do that, you lend him some of your own strength.”

IfsShouldWellsEnoughSeriousPrayingShould HaveSakeBurdenStrikesSillyShouldersDialogueWell BeingNaiveI PrayConveniencePraying To GodHelpfulness
Book:Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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