My interpretation is different. God asks Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" [Genesis 4:9] And Cain answers "Lo yadati, "I don't know" or "I didn't know." Then comes a period, followed by "Am I my brother's keeper?" Elie Wiesel More Quotes by Elie Wiesel More Quotes From Elie Wiesel Just as there are predatory birds, so there are predatory ideas: I came under their spell. . . .Just as the survivors say that no one will ever understand the victims, what I must tell you is that you will never understand the executioners. Elie Wiesel survivor bird ideas Knowledge does not corrupt, unless it is arrogant; but then it is not true knowledge. Elie Wiesel true-knowledge arrogant doe For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. Elie Wiesel collective-memory memories past I was inspired by the marvelous example of Giacometti, the great sculptor. He always said that his dream was to do a bust so small that it could enter a matchbook, but so heavy that no one could lift it. That's what a good book should be. Elie Wiesel example dream book I do not recall a Jewish home without a book on the table. Elie Wiesel tables home book That is my major preoccupation, memory, the kingdom of memory. I want to protect and enrich that kingdom, glorify that kingdom and serve it. Elie Wiesel literature want memories Only the guilty are guilty: the children of killers are not killers, but children. Elie Wiesel guilty children [Moishe] explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer.... And why do you pray, Moishe?' I asked him. I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions. Elie Wiesel real praying answers I have to be self-conscious of what I'm trying to do with my life. Elie Wiesel self-conscious self trying It was like a page torn from a history book, from some historical novel about the captivity of babylon or Spanish Inquisition. Elie Wiesel historical-novels captivity book Eternity is the place where questions and answers become one. Elie Wiesel questions-and-answers eternity answers Sometimes I am asked if I know 'the response to Auschwitz; I answer that not only do I not know it, but that I don't even know if a tragedy of this magnitude has a response. Elie Wiesel holocaust tragedy answers I will say, with memoir, you must be honest. You must be truthful. Elie Wiesel memoir truthful honest Moses was the greatest legislator and the commander in chief of perhaps the first liberation army. Elie Wiesel moses army firsts In the concentration camps, we discovered this whole universe where everyone had his place. The killer came to kill, and the victims came to die. Elie Wiesel concentration killers victim No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions. Elie Wiesel vision dream may The darkness enveloped us. All I could hear was the violin and it was as if Juliek's soul had become the bow. He was playing his life...He played that which he would never play again. Elie Wiesel soul darkness play It is up to us to determine whether the years ahead will be for humankind a curse or a blessing. We always must remember that it is given to men and women to choose life and living, not death and destruction. Elie Wiesel blessing men years First we must understand that there can be no life without risk - and when our center is strong, everything else is secondary, even the risks. Elie Wiesel risk strong firsts But the forces of evil have not abdicated. The malevolent ghosts of hatred are resurgent with a fury and a boldness that are as astounding as they are nauseating: ethnic conflicts, religious riots, anti-Semitic incidents here, there, and everywhere. What is wrong with these morally degenerate people that they abuse their freedom, so recently won? Elie Wiesel religious evil people
