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100 Inspirational Quotes By Elie Wiesel, The Holocaust Survivor & Author Of Night

Famous As: Author, Holocaust Survivor, Political Activist and Winner of 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
Born On: September 30, 1928
Died On: July 2, 2016
Born In: Sighetu Marmației, Romania
Died At Age: 87
A Nobel laureate writer, professor and political activist, Eliezer ‘Elie’ Wiesel was a Romanian-born American Jewish who jumped to fame after his work, a memoir ‘Night’ that gave a first-hand account of his life as a survivor of Holocaust and as a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. In the book, he gave a detailed account recounting his experiences of surviving Holocaust. Post the overwhelming success of ‘Night’, Wiesel took to writing professionally. In his lifetime, he penned more than 57 books, mostly in French and English. He also became an active activist, orator and teacher, speaking out against persecution and injustice across the globe. When bestowed the Nobel Peace Prize, Wiesel was introduced as a ‘messenger to mankind’. He not just came to terms with his own personal experience of total humiliation and of the utter contempt for humanity shown in Hitler's death camps but organized practical work in the cause of peace. Post the honor, Wiesel became a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active throughout his life. Just as his work, his quotes have been equally life-changing that touch various aspects of life and give readers a new perception and outlook.
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There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

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

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

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

Elie Wiesel
Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.

Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.

Elie Wiesel
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Elie Wiesel
To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.

To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.

Elie Wiesel
When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.

When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.

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

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

Elie Wiesel
One person of integrity can make a difference.

One person of integrity can make a difference.

Elie Wiesel
If the only prayer you say throughout your life is

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

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

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

Elie Wiesel
I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.

I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.

Elie Wiesel
No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them

No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them

Elie Wiesel
Only the guilty are guilty. Their children are not.

Only the guilty are guilty. Their children are not.

Elie Wiesel
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides.

Elie Wiesel
Which is worse? Killing with hate or killing without hate?

Which is worse? Killing with hate or killing without hate?

Elie Wiesel
For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences.

For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences.

Elie Wiesel
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.

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.

Elie Wiesel
I shall always remember that smile. From what world did it come from?

I shall always remember that smile. From what world did it come from?

Elie Wiesel
Think higher, feel deeper.

Think higher, feel deeper.

Elie Wiesel
One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live.

One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live.

Elie Wiesel
We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph.

We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph.

Elie Wiesel
There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.

There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.

Elie Wiesel
His cold eyes stared at me. At last, he said wearily:

His cold eyes stared at me. At last, he said wearily: "I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.

Elie Wiesel
I don't want my past to become anyone else's future.

I don't want my past to become anyone else's future.

Elie Wiesel
They are committing the greatest indignity human beings can inflict on one another: telling people who have suffered excruciating pain and loss that their pain and loss were illusions. (v)

They are committing the greatest indignity human beings can inflict on one another: telling people who have suffered excruciating pain and loss that their pain and loss were illusions. (v)

Elie Wiesel
He explained to me with great insistence that every question posessed a power that did not lie in the answer.

He explained to me with great insistence that every question posessed a power that did not lie in the answer.

Elie Wiesel
Whoever survives a test, whatever it may be, must tell the story. That is his duty.

Whoever survives a test, whatever it may be, must tell the story. That is his duty.

Elie Wiesel
Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself.

Elie Wiesel
Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.

Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.

Elie Wiesel
Indifference is the sign of sickness, a sickness of the soul more contagious than any other.

Indifference is the sign of sickness, a sickness of the soul more contagious than any other.

Elie Wiesel