The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Elie WieselRead
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Indifference is a more profound absence than hate or ugliness; it signifies a lack of connection.
Elie Wiesel's quote emphasizes that indifference is a significant form of disengagement that undermines love, art, faith, and life itself. Rather than opposing these concepts, which can provoke strong emotions and reactions, indifference represents a void where true engagement and concern should be, reflecting a troubling detachment that can have severe consequences for individuals and society.
Themes
IndifferenceLoveArtFaithLifeEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social responsibility, this quote can be used to highlight the dangers of apathy toward societal issues.
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.
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
Old events have modern meanings; only that survives of past history which finds kindred in all hearts and lives.
James Russell LowellRead
Yes, and the body has a memory. The physical carriage hauls more than its weight. The body is the threshold across which each objectionable call passes into consciousness—all the unintimidated, unblinking, and unflappable resilience does not erase the moments lived through, even as we are eternally stupid or everlastingly optimistic, so ready to be inside, among, a part of the games.
Claudia RankineRead
Telling me that I’m obsessed with talking about racism in America is like telling me I’m obsessed with swimming when I’m drowning.
Hari KondaboluRead
Civil officials have no business meddling in private religious affairs.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Generalized intelligence and mental alertness are the most powerful enemies of dictatorship and at the same time the basic conditions of effective democracy.
Aldous HuxleyRead
I ask no risen dust to teach me immortality; I am conscious of eternal life.
Theodore ParkerRead