Elie Wiesel
(1928-)

American Writer, Human Rights Activist
1984 Congression Gold Medal
1986 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
1992 Presidential Medal of Freedom
1995 National Freedom Award
United Nations Messenger of Peace

birthdate: September 30
birthplace:
Sighet, Romania

QUOTES

"Peace is our gift to each other."

War dehumanizes, war diminishes, war debases all those who wage it.

There is much to be done, there is much that can be done… one person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our lives will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.

The opposite of love is not hate but indifference.

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

None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all of its hideousness.

Mankind needs peace more than ever, for our entire planet, threatened by nuclear war, is in danger of total destruction. A destruction only man can provoke, only man can prevent.

Time itself becomes subordinate to war. If only we could celebrate peace as our various ancestors celebrated war; if only we could glorify peace as those before us, thirsting for adventure, glorified war; if only our sages and scholars together could resolve to infuse peace with the same energy and inspiration that others have put into war. Why is war such an easy option? Why does peace remain such an elusive goal? We know statesmen skilled at waging war, but where are those dedicated enough to humanity to find a way to avoid war> Every nation has its prestigious military academies - or so few of them - that reach not only the virtues of peace but also the art of attaining it? I mean attaining and protecting it by means other than weapons, the tools of war. Why are we surprised whenever war recedes and yields to peace?

"Always question those who are certain of what they are saying

END RACISM
“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentors, not the tormented Wherever anyone is persecuted for their race or political views, that place must become the center of the universe.”

 

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