Elie Wiesel Quotes

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.

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.

Write only if you cannot live without writing. Write only what you alone can write.

I write to understand as much as to be understood.

I needed to know that there was such a thing as love and that it brought smiles and joy in its wake.

No human being is illegal.

If the only prayer you say throughout your life is "Thank You," then that will be enough.

Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.

Even in darkness it is possible to create light and encourage compassion. That it is possible to feel free inside a prison. That even in exile, friendship exists and can become an anchor. That one instant before dying, man is still immortal.

A disciple came to the celebrated Master of the Good Name with a question. “Rabbi, how are we to distinguish between a true master and a fake?” And the master of the good name said, “When you meet a person who poses as a master, ask him a question: whether he knows how to purify your thoughts. If he says that he knows, then he is a fake.

In the beginning there was faith - which is childish; trust - which is vain; and illusion - which is dangerous.

For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.

Violence is not the answer. Terrorism is the most dangerous of answers.

Man asks and God replies but we don't understand his replies because they dwell in the depths of our souls and remain there until we die.

We must choose between the violence of adults and the smiles of children, between the ugliness of hate and the will to oppose it. Between inflicting suffering and humiliation on our fellow man and offering him the solidarity and hope he deserves. Or not.

We are all brothers and we are all suffering the same fate. The same smoke floats over all our heads. Help one another. It is the only way to survive. (pg. 39)

Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible.

Music does not replace words, it gives tone to the words