"What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander."
"Acutely aware of the poverty of my means, language became obstacle. At every page I thought, 'That's not it.' So I began again with other verbs and other images. No, that wasn't it either. But what exactly was that it I was searching for? It must have been all that eludes us, hidden behind a veil so as not to be stolen, usurped and trivialized. Words seemed weak and pale."
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Source: Elie Wiesel, Robert Franciosi (2002). “Elie Wiesel: Conversations”, p.97, Univ. Press of Mississippi
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"Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."
"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."
"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."
"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim."