Quotes By Elie Wiesel

Some stories are true that never happened.

I will say, with memoir, you must be honest. You must be truthful.

I'll tell you what: I believe mysticism is a very serious endeavor. One must be equipped for it.

I was very, very religious. And of course I wrote about it in 'Night.' I questioned God's silence. So I questioned. I don't have an answer for that. Does it mean that I stopped having faith? No. I have faith, but I question it.

Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.

Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds.

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

Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.

I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.

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.

Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.

Human beings should be held accountable. Leave god alone. He has enough problems.

Moses was the greatest legislator and the commander in chief of perhaps the first liberation army.

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.

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.

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

I have to be self-conscious of what I'm trying to do with my life.

I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead. and anyone who does not remember betrays them again.

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

After all, God is God because he remembers.

For me, every hour is grace.

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.

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.

Peace is our gift to each other.

Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.

In Jewish history there are no coincidences.