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I was very, very religious. And of course I wrote about it in 'Night.' I questioned God's silence. So I questioned. I don't have an answer for that. Does it mean that I stopped having faith? No. I have faith, but I question it.
Elie Wiesel
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses a complex relationship between faith and doubt.

Elie Wiesel reflects on his deep religious beliefs and the anguish he faced during moments of questioning God's silence. His statement reveals that questioning faith does not equate to losing it; instead, it highlights the struggle and coexistence of faith and doubt in the human experience.

Themes

FaithDoubtReligionQuestioningSilence

In practice

Example use cases

During a sermon, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of questioning one's beliefs.

More from Elie Wiesel

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
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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.
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Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.
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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.
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No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has escaped the kingdom of night.
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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

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