Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBEwas a Romanian-born American Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth30 September 1928
CountryUnited States of America
attraction express felt towards
I never felt any attraction towards violence. I never tried to express myself through violence. Violence is a language.
except five four pull vanished
When did I learn the Bible? When I was four or five years old. It's still the pull of my childhood, a fascination with the vanished world, and I can find everything except that world.
god relationship religion
Religion is not man's relationship to God, it is man's relationship to man.
became believe experience given tried war
My greatest disappointment is that I believe that those of us who went through the war and tried to write about it, about their experience, became messengers. We have given the message, and nothing changed.
failed substitute
Language failed me very often, but then, the substitute for me was silence, but not violence.
exist zionist
It's clear to me that one can't be Jewish without Israel. Religious or non-religious, Zionist or non-Zionist, Ashkenazi or Sephardic - all these will not exist without Israel.
denigrate easy hurts life teacher word
I'm a teacher and a writer; my life is words. When I see the denigration of language, it hurts me, and it's easy to denigrate a word by trivializing it.
came disciples fact preach sing
It used to be said that when the Baal Shem Tov came into a town, his impact was so strong, he didn't have to speak. His disciples had to dance or to sing or to preach to have the same effect. I think a real messenger, myself or anyone, by the very fact that he is there as a person, as a symbol, could have the same impact.
history jewish learning upbringing
Historically, I come from Jewish history. I had the classic upbringing in the Yeshiva, learning, learning, and more learning.
becomes
When language fails, violence becomes a language; I never had that feeling.
constant
If I were immersed in constant melancholy, I would not be who I am.
commentary eternal great happiness love
I wanted to write a commentary on the Bible, to write about the Talmud, about celebration, about the great eternal subjects: love and happiness.
good moments personal poor religion
Religion is a very personal thing for me. Religion has its good moments and its poor moments.
politics
I don't know much about politics, and I don't want to know. That's why I rarely involve myself in politics.