The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Elie WieselRead
Perhaps some day someone will explain how, on the level of man, Auschwitz was possible; but on the level of God, it will forever remain the most disturbing of mysteries.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the inscrutable nature of evil and suffering, questioning how such atrocities could occur in the world.
Elie Wiesel's quote reveals the profound mystery surrounding human suffering and evil, particularly as exemplified by the Holocaust. On a human level, one can attempt to understand the factors and motivations that led to such horror, but Wiesel suggests that on a divine level, the presence of such atrocities raises questions about the nature and existence of God, leaving it as an unsettling enigma that may never be fully elucidated.
Themes
HolocaustSufferingEvilMysteryDivinity
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on human rights, this quote could underscore the importance of remembering history.
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
Revenge is a common passion; it is the sin of the uninstructed. The savage deems it noble;but the religion of Christ, which is the sublime civilizer, emphatically condemns it. Why? Because religion ever seeks to ennoble man; and nothing so debases him as revenge.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
The man who said 'I'd rather be lucky than good' saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't and you lose.
Woody AllenRead
Why does man not see things? He is himself standing in the way: he conceals things.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom, the good thief said from his cross (Luke 23:42). There are perhaps no more human words in all of Scripture, no prayer we can pray so well.
Frederick BuechnerRead
A Chinaman of the T'ang Dynasty—and, by which definition, a philosopher—dreamed he was a butterfly, and from that moment he was never quite sure that he was not a butterfly dreaming it was a Chinese philosopher. Envy him; in his two-fold security.
Tom StoppardRead
I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary.
Nathan HaleRead