65 quotes
"The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria..."
Night (1960)
To forget would not only be dangerous but offensive. to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.
Night (1960)
For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.
Once you label a people "illegal", that is exactly what the Nazis did to Jews.
Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair. I remember the killers, I remember the victims, even as I struggle to invent a thousand and one reasons to hope.
Terrorism must be outlawed by all civilized nations — not explained or rationalized, but fought and eradicated. Nothing can, nothing will justify the murder of innocent people and helpless children.
Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)
They called him Moishe the Beadle, as if his entire life he had never had a surname.
Night (1960)
What is abnormal is that I am normal. That I survived the Holocaust and went on to love beautiful girls, to talk, to write, to have toast and tea and live my life — that is what is abnormal.
None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims.
Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Nobel acceptance speech (1986)
I believe mysticism is a very serious endeavor. One must be equipped for it. One doesn't study calculus before studying arithmetic.
I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I've been closer to him for that reason.
MENDEL: Once you’re on your knees, you can’t stand up straight again.
The Trial of God (1979)
In mysticism you can jump from A to Z. But the ultimate objective is the same. It's knowledge. It's truth.
The most important question a human being has to face... What is it? The question, Why are we here?
I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.
For us, forgetting was never an option. Remembering is a noble and necessary act.
Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)
If anything can, it is memory that will save humanity.
Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)
That place, Mr. President, is not your place. Your place is with the victims of the SS.
Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future.
Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)