Elie Wiesel

Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible.

Even in darkness it is possible to create light and encourage compassion. That it is possible to feel free inside a prison. That even in exile, friendship exists and can become an anchor. That one instant before dying, man is still immortal.

I needed to know that there was such a thing as love and that it brought smiles and joy in its wake.

Since God is, He is to be found in the questions as well as the answers.

You're at the bottom of the mountain. May you climb up without suffering.

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

Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.

We are all brothers and we are all suffering the same fate. The same smoke floats over all our heads. Help one another. It is the only way to survive. (pg. 39)

We believed in God, trusted in man, and lived with the illusion that every one of us has been entrusted with a sacred spark.

In the beginning there was faith - which is childish; trust - which is vain; and illusion - which is dangerous.

It is obvious that the war which Hitler and his accomplices waged was a war not only against Jewish men, women, and children, but also against Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, therefore Jewish memory.

And I, the for­mer mys­tic, was think­ing: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God. When Adam and Eve de­ceived You, You chased them from par­adise. When You were dis­pleased by Noah’s generation, You brought down the Flood. When Sodom lost Your fa­vour, You caused the heav­ens to rain down fire and damna­tion. But look at these men whom You have be­trayed, al­low­ing them to be tortured, slaugh­tered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray be­fore You! They praise Your name!

Man prefers to blame himself for all possible sins and crimes rather than come to the conclusion that God is capable of the most flagrant injustice. I still blush every time I think of the way God makes fun of human beings, his favorite toys.

Life is really fascinated only by death. It vibrates only when it comes in contact with death.

Suffering pulls us farther away from other human beings. It builds a wall made of cries and contempt to separate us.

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

Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking and loving and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new and deeper meaning. The tragedy of man is that he doesn't know how to distinguish between day and night. He says things at night that should only be said by day.

A disciple came to the celebrated Master of the Good Name with a question. “Rabbi, how are we to distinguish between a true master and a fake?” And the master of the good name said, “When you meet a person who poses as a master, ask him a question: whether he knows how to purify your thoughts. If he says that he knows, then he is a fake.

I told him that I did not believe that they could burn people in our age, that humanity would never tolerate it . . .

One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live.

I have tried to keep memory alive... I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.