January 19, 2009
Elie Wiesel quotes
Elie Wiesel quotes are among the most useful in setting the mood for an essay. Let them add gravity to whatever project you are working on.
“If you ask me what I want to achieve, it’s to create an awareness, which is already the beginning of teaching.” (1978)
“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.” (1978)
“I rarely speak about God. To God yes. I protest against HIm. I shout at Him. But open discourse about the qualities of God, about the problems that God imposes, theodicy, no. And yet He is there, in silence, in filigree.” (1978)
“Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.” (1986)
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death.” (1986)
“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.” (1986)
“When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.” (2000)
“I had anger but never hate. Before the war, I was too busy studying to hate. After the war, I thought, What’s the use? To hate would be to reduce myself.”
“In Jewish history there are no coincidences.” (2004)
Find more Elie Wiesel quotes at WikiQuotes.com.