QuoteProject
Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all.
Elie Wiesel
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

It is better for one person to endure suffering so that many others can be spared the same pain.

Elie Wiesel's quote emphasizes the profound sacrifice that one individual may make for the greater good of many. It suggests that personal pain and heartache may be a necessary component in protecting others from suffering, highlighting the selflessness that can arise from love and compassion for humanity.

Themes

SacrificeLovePainCompassionSufferingHumanity

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about community service, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of helping others at a personal cost.

More from Elie Wiesel

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Elie WieselRead
With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don't think it's human to become an agent of the angel of death.
Elie WieselRead
Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.
Elie WieselRead
We're alone, but we are capable of communicating to one another both our loneliness and our desire to break through it. You say, 'I'm alone.' Someone answers, 'I'm alone too.' There's a shift in the scale of power. A bridge is thrown between the two abysses.
Elie WieselRead
No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has escaped the kingdom of night.
Elie WieselRead
My loyalty to my people, to our people, and to Israel comes first and prevents me from saying anything critical of Israel outside Israel… As a Jew I see my role as a melitz yosher, a defender of Israel: I defend even her mistakes… I must identify with whatever Israel does – even with her errors.
Elie WieselRead

Similar quotes

If we know anything about a path at all, it's only because of the Great ones that have gone before us. Out of their love and kindness, they have left some footprints for us to follow. So, in the same way that they wish for us, we wish that all beings everywhere, including ourselves, be safe, be happy, have good health, and enough to eat. And may we all live at ease of heart with whatever comes to us in life.
Krishna DasRead
Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.
Edward De BonoRead
People have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by evidence cannot be given much weight.
James W. LoewenRead
Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.
John CleeseRead
I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
Albert EinsteinRead
If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing slowly ... very slowly.
Gypsy Rose LeeRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.