Elie Wiesel Quotes

Quotes about:

• 

  What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.

  Elie Wiesel

  Hurt, Pain, Bystanders

  "Courage To Care - Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust" by Carol Rittner and Sandra Meyers, NYU Press, (p. 2), 1986.

  322 Copy quote

• I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

  Elie Wiesel

  Peace, Bystanders, History

  Elie Wiesel (2011). “From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences”, p.170, Schocken

  284 Copy quote
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  The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.

  Elie Wiesel

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  US News & World Report, October 27, 1986.

  247 Copy quote

• Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.

  Elie Wiesel

  Inspirational, Life, Women

  Elie Wiesel (2011). “From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences”, p.170, Schocken

  289 Copy quote
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  There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

  Elie Wiesel

  Freedom, Philosophy, Military

  Elie Wiesel (2011). “From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences”, p.182, Schocken

  237 Copy quote

• To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all.

  Elie Wiesel

  Sin, Silent, Indifferent

  Elie Wiesel, Harry J. Cargas (1993). “Telling the tale: a tribute to Elie Wiesel on the occasion of his 65th birthday : essays, reflections, and poems”, Time Being Press

  109 Copy quote

• I learned to trust the threats of enemies before the promises of friends.

  Elie Wiesel

  Promise, Enemy, Threat

  16 Copy quote

• Even in darkness it is possible to create light.

  Elie Wiesel

  Positivity, Light, Darkness

  "'Even in Darkness, It Is Possible To Create Light' - Elie Wiesel Top Quotes on Survival, Faith and Perseverance Upon News of Death" by Jonalyn Cueto, www.christianpost.com. July 3, 2016.

  129 Copy quote

• For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. Not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are responsible for what we do with those memories

  Elie Wiesel

  Memories, Bears, Responsible

  179 Copy quote
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  Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

  Elie Wiesel

  Bystanders, Remembrance, Silence

  Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 11 Dec. 1986

  190 Copy quote

• In order to fly, you have to give up the ground you are standing on.

  Elie Wiesel

  Giving Up, Order, Giving

  61 Copy quote

• People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell.

  Elie Wiesel

  People, Stories

  11 Copy quote

• One person of integrity can make a difference.

  Elie Wiesel

  Integrity, Differences, Making A Difference

  Elie Wiesel (2012). “Night”, p.143, Macmillan

  60 Copy quote

• I still believe in man in spite of man. I believe in language even though it has been wounded, deformed, and perverted by the enemies of mankind. And I continue to cling to words because it is up to us to transform them into instruments of comprehension rather than contempt. It is up to us to choose whether we wish to use them to curse or to heal, to wound or to console.

  Elie Wiesel

  Inspirational, Sympathy, Believe

  Elie Wiesel (2012). “Open Heart”, p.73, Schocken

  175 Copy quote

• Be careful with words, they're dangerous. Be wary of them. They begat either demons or angels. It's up to you to give life to one or the other. Be careful, I tell you, nothing is as dangerous as giving free rein to words

  Elie Wiesel

  Teaching, Angel, Giving

  Elie Wiesel (2011). “Legends of Our Time”, p.14, Schocken

  78 Copy quote

• Words can be turned into spears. They can be turned into prayers. It's a strange world that you are in. But you deal with words.

  Elie Wiesel

  Prayer, World, Strange

  Source: www.npr.org

  4 Copy quote

• In the face of suffering, one has no right to turn away, not to see.

  Elie Wiesel

  Compassion, Suffering, Faces

  Elie Wiesel (2013). “Messengers of God: A True Story of Angelic Presence and the Return to”, p.57, Simon and Schuster

  48 Copy quote

• Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.

  Elie Wiesel

  Peace, Remember, Mankind

  77 Copy quote

• An indifference to suffering makes humans inhuman

  Elie Wiesel

  Suffering, Indifference, Humans

  20 Copy quote

• Always remember, my good friends, that there is one sin we must never commit and it is to humiliate another person or to allow another person to be humiliated in our presence without us screaming and shouting and protesting.

  Elie Wiesel

  Good Friend, Remember, Sin

  "Changing world of commencement speakers" by Heidi Benson, www.sfgate.com. June 11, 2008.

  8 Copy quote

• The philosophers are wrong: it is not words that kill, it is silence.

  Elie Wiesel

  Silence, Philosopher

  Elie Wiesel (2013). “The Testament”, p.151, Souvenir Press

  58 Copy quote

• What is man?
  Hope turned to dust.
  No.
  What is man?
  Dust turned to hope.

  Elie Wiesel

  Peace, Men, Ubuntu

  10 Copy quote

• I came to the conclusion that I am free to choose my own suffering. But I am not free to consent to someone else's suffering.

  Elie Wiesel

  Suffering, Conclusion, Consent

  Source: www.commonwealmagazine.org

  15 Copy quote

• All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them. No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior.

  Elie Wiesel

  Faith, Religious, Race

  "Have You Learned The Most Important Lesson Of All?". Parade Magazine, www.thehypertexts.com. May 24, 1992.

  98 Copy quote

• Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future.

  Elie Wiesel

  Dream, Heart, Past

  "Hope, Despair and Memory". Nobel Lecture, www.nobelprize.org. December 11, 1986.

  45 Copy quote

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