The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the moral indifference of humanity in the face of overwhelming possibilities, suggesting a loss of ethical concern.
Elie Wiesel's quote suggests a world where human beings are indifferent to moral responsibilities, and where the boundaries of what is acceptable have become blurred. He points out that in contemporary society, people may feel liberated to act without concern for humanity or ethics, leading to the idea that anything is permissible. This notion prompts a critical reflection on moral values and responsibilities in a world where freedom of action might overshadow the importance of compassion and consideration for others.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing youth about the importance of moral choices in today's world.
More from Elie Wiesel
All quotes →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.
Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.
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.
No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has escaped the kingdom of night.
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.
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The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously.
In our corruption we perceive beauties unrevealed to ancient times.
To be desired is perhaps the closest anybody in this life can reach to feeling immortal.
Nothing is secure. That is my message. Nothing can be secure, because a secure life will be worse than death. Nothing is certain. Life is full of uncertainties, full of surprises - that is its beauty! You can never come to a moment when you can say, "Now I am certain." When you say you are certain, you simply declare your death, you have committed suicide.
An artist has an obligation to tell the truth. [...] that the true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves. We are the monsters. (And the heroes too). Each of us has within himself the capacity for great good, and great evil.
Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together," Pulitzer wrote. "An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations.