Elie Wiesel Quotes

Whoever survives a test, whatever it may be, must tell the story. That is his duty.

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

Each man was his own executioner and his own victim.

Next to him lay his violin, trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse.

Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to life as long as God himself

BERISH: Prosecutor. That’s what I am going to be. Prosecutor.
MARIA: What’s that?
AVREMEL: That’s someone nice who has the right to be nasty.

The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria...

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.

I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I've been closer to him for that reason.

The greatest commandment to me in the Bible is not the Ten Commandments. (First of all, it’s too difficult to observe; second, we all pretend to observe.) My commandment is ‘Thou shall not stand idly by.’ Which means, when you witness an injustice: Don’t stand idly by. When you hear of a person or a group being persecuted: Do not stand idly by. When there is something wrong with the community around you or far away: Do not stand idly by. You must intervene. You must interfere. And that is actually the motto of human rights.

I did not deny God's existence, but I doubted his absolute justice.

It's up to you now, and we shall help you — that my past does not become your future.

A recollection. The time: After the war. The place: Paris. A young man struggles to readjust to life. His mother, his father, his small sister are gone. He is alone. On the verge of despair. And yet he does not give up. On the contrary, he strives to find a place among the living. He acquires a new language. He makes a few friends who, like himself, believe that the memory of evil will serve as a shield against evil; that the memory of death will serve as a shield against death.

We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.

Which is worse? Killing with hate or killing without hate?