There is Auschwitz, and so there cannot be God.
Primo LeviRead
The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one's country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote explores the intricate and often conflicting relationship between individuals and their professions, akin to their ties to their nations.
Primo Levi draws a parallel between the connections people have to their professions and their connections to their countries. He suggests that these bonds are complex and may only be fully comprehended when they are severed, such as through retirement or emigration, highlighting how much our identities are intertwined with the roles we take on in society.
Themes
BondProfessionCountryIdentityRetirement
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about career changes, one might refer to this quote to express the emotional weight involved in leaving a job.
More from Primo Levi
All quotes βTo destroy a man is difficult, almost as difficult as to create one: it has not been easy, nor quick, but you Germans have succeeded. Here we are, docile under your gaze; from our side you have nothing more to fear; no acts of violence, no words of defiance, not even a look of judgment.
Primo LeviRead
They sensed that what had happened around them and in their presence, and in them, was irrevocable. Never again could it be cleansed; it would prove that man, the human species - we, in short - had the potential to construct an enormity of pain, and that pain is the only force created from nothing, without cost and without effort. It is enough not to see, not to listen, not to act.
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I live in my house as I live inside my skin: I know more beautiful, more ample, more sturdy and more picturesque skins: but it would seem to me unnatural to exchange them for mine.
Primo LeviRead
Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his habits, his clothes, in short, of everything he possesses: he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs, forgetful of dignity and restraint, for he who loses all often loses himself.
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The living are more demanding; the dead can wait.
Primo LeviRead
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