Elie Wiesel quotes - page 7

What does mysticism really mean? It means the way to attain knowledge. It's close to philosophy, except in philosophy you go horizontally while in mysticism you go vertically. (Elie Wiesel)
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. Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies. To be in the window and watch people being sent to concentration camps or being attacked in the street and do nothing, that's being dead. View quote
Elie Wiesel
It's up to you now, and we shall help you - that my past does not become your future. View quote
Elie Wiesel
People thought this was a good thing. We would no longer have to look at all those hostile faces, endure those hate-filled stares. No more fear. No more anguish. We would live entirely among Jews, among brothers... View quote
Elie Wiesel
We were outside. The icy wind whipped my face. I was constantly biting my lips so that they wouldn't freeze. All around me, what appeared to be a dance of death. My head was reeling. I was walking through a cemetery. Among the stiffened corpses, there were logs of wood. Not a sound of distress, not a plaintive cry, nothing but mass agony and silence. Nobody asked anyone for help. One died because one had to. No point in making trouble. View quote
Elie Wiesel
When I woke up, it was daylight. That is when I remembered that I had a father. During the alert, I had followed the mob, not taking care of him. I knew he was running out of strength, close to death, and yet had abandoned him. I went to look for him. Yet at the same time a thought crept into my mind: If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care of myself...Instantly, I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever. View quote
Elie Wiesel
Peace is not God's gift to his creatures. It is our gift to each other. View quote
Elie Wiesel
I believe mysticism is a very serious endeavor. One must be equipped for it. One doesn't study calculus before studying arithmetic. View quote
Elie Wiesel
Miracles in mysticism don't occupy such an important place. View quote
Elie Wiesel
The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal... View quote
Elie Wiesel
I believe that all the survivors are mad. One time or another their madness will explode. You cannot absorb that much madness and not be influenced by it. That is why the children of survivors are so tragic. I see them in school. They don't know how. (Elie Wiesel)
Human beings should be held accountable. Leave God alone. He has enough problems. View quote
Elie Wiesel
We believed in God, trusted in man, and lived with the illusion that every one of us has been entrusted with a sacred spark. View quote
Elie Wiesel
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. View quote
Elie Wiesel
Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future. View quote
Elie Wiesel
I've given my life to the principle and the ideal of memory, and remembrance. View quote
Elie Wiesel
It was pitch dark. I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek's soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings--his last hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again...When I awoke, in the daylight, I could see Juliek, opposite me, slumped over, dead. Near him lay his violin, smashed, trampled, a strange overwhelming little corpse. View quote
Elie Wiesel
Now, when I hear that Christians are getting together in order to defend the people of Israel, of course it brings joy to my heart. And it simply says, look, people have learned from history. View quote
Elie Wiesel
For in my tradition, as a Jew, I believe that whatever we receive we must share. View quote
Elie Wiesel
He explained to me with great insistence that every question posessed a power that did not lie in the answer. View quote
Elie Wiesel
In my tradition, one must wait until one has learned a lot of Bible and Talmud and the Prophets to handle mysticism. This isn't instant coffee. There is no instant mysticism. (Elie Wiesel)
I will say, with memoir, you must be honest. You must be truthful. View quote
Elie Wiesel
Moses was the greatest legislator and the commander in chief of perhaps the first liberation army. View quote
Elie Wiesel
For me, every hour is grace. View quote
Elie Wiesel
And I, the for­mer mys­tic, was think­ing: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God. When Adam and Eve de­ceived You, You chased them from par­adise. When You were dis­pleased by Noah's generation, You brought down the Flood. When Sodom lost Your fa­vour, You caused the heav­ens to rain down fire and damna­tion. But look at these men whom You have be­trayed, al­low­ing them to be tortured, slaugh­tered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray be­fore You! They praise Your name! View quote
Elie Wiesel