I'd almost say hope isn't what it used to be. It's very difficult today to be a teacher. I speak to children. And tell them, look, no matter what, you must have hope. You must. When I invoke Camus, who said when there is no hope, you must invent hope. . .hope is something that is not what God gives us. It's like peace. It's a gift that one can give to one another. Only another person can push me to despair. And only another person can push me to hope. Its my choice.

Elie Wiesel

Categorized in : Children Giving Teacher

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.

Elie Wiesel

inspirational love life

What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.

Elie Wiesel

bystanders pain hurt

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.

Elie Wiesel

bystanders peace history

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.

Elie Wiesel

women inspirational life

For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. Not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are responsible for what we do with those memories

Elie Wiesel

responsible bears memories

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

freedom military philosophy

To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all.

Elie Wiesel

indifferent silent sin

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

believe children school

I still believe in man in spite of man. I believe in language even though it has been wounded, deformed, and perverted by the enemies of mankind. And I continue to cling to words because it is up to us to transform them into instruments of comprehension rather than contempt. It is up to us to choose whether we wish to use them to curse or to heal, to wound or to console.

Elie Wiesel

sympathy inspirational believe

... True, we are often too weak to stop injustices; but the least we can do is to protest against them. True, we are too poor to eliminate hunger; but in feeding one child, we protest against hunger. True, we are too timid and powerless to take on all the guards of all the political prisons in the world; but in offering our solidarity to one prisoner we denounce all the tormentors. True, we are powerless against death; but as long as we help one man, one woman, one child live one hour longer in safety and dignity, we affirm man's [woman's] right to live.

Elie Wiesel

offering men children

Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

Elie Wiesel

bystanders remembrance silence

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

Elie Wiesel

mankind remember peace

Young people want to learn, they are thirsty for knowledge, they want to understand and remember. The main thing is to teach them where not to go. Oppression, not to go; dictatorship, not to go; racism and prejudice, absolutely not to go. This is a moral plan [for society].

Elie Wiesel

racism want people

The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Indifference creates evil. Hatred is evil itself. Indifference is what allows evil to be strong, what gives it power.

Elie Wiesel

hate strong love-is

Be careful with words, they're dangerous. Be wary of them. They begat either demons or angels. It's up to you to give life to one or the other. Be careful, I tell you, nothing is as dangerous as giving free rein to words

Elie Wiesel

angel teaching giving

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

Elie Wiesel

despair remember life

Even in darkness it is possible to create light.

Elie Wiesel

positivity light darkness

When you die and go to heaven our maker is not going to ask, 'why didn't you discover the cure for such and such? why didn't you become the Messiah?' The only question we will be asked in that precious moment is 'why didn't you become you?'

Elie Wiesel

yoga heaven death

Education in the key to preventing the cycle of violence and hatred that marred the 20th century from repeating itself in the 21st century.

Elie Wiesel

keys hatred education

I don't know the real answer, my answer to anything which is essentially human relations is education. Whatever the answer is, education must be its measured component and if you try to educate with generosity not with triumphalism I think sometimes it works, especially young people, that's why I teach, I've been teaching all my life.

Elie Wiesel

real teaching thinking