The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Elie WieselRead
Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
It is better for one person to endure suffering so that many others can be spared the same pain.
Elie Wiesel's quote emphasizes the profound sacrifice that one individual may make for the greater good of many. It suggests that personal pain and heartache may be a necessary component in protecting others from suffering, highlighting the selflessness that can arise from love and compassion for humanity.
Themes
SacrificeLovePainCompassionSufferingHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of helping others at a personal cost.
More from Elie Wiesel
All quotes →With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don't think it's human to become an agent of the angel of death.
Elie WieselRead
Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.
Elie WieselRead
We're alone, but we are capable of communicating to one another both our loneliness and our desire to break through it. You say, 'I'm alone.' Someone answers, 'I'm alone too.' There's a shift in the scale of power. A bridge is thrown between the two abysses.
Elie WieselRead
No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has escaped the kingdom of night.
Elie WieselRead
My loyalty to my people, to our people, and to Israel comes first and prevents me from saying anything critical of Israel outside Israel… As a Jew I see my role as a melitz yosher, a defender of Israel: I defend even her mistakes… I must identify with whatever Israel does – even with her errors.
Elie WieselRead
Similar quotes
When you're all alone out there, on the end of the typewriter, with each new story a new appraisal by the world of whether you can still get it up or not, arrogance and self-esteem and deep breathing are all you have. It often looks like egomania. I assure you it's the bold coverup of the absolutely terrified.
Harlan EllisonRead
I've spent my life trying to make things simpler. Because I find ultimately that complicated doesn't reach the heart.
Hans ZimmerRead
Our modern lifestyle is not a political creation. Before 1700, everybody was poor as hell. Life was short and brutish. It wasn't because we didn't have good politicians; we had some really good politicians. But then we started inventing - electricity, steam engines, microprocessors, understanding genetics and medicine and things like that. Yes, stability and education are important - I'm not taking anything away from that - but innovation is the real driver of progress.
Bill GatesRead
I am the slave of an internal power more powerful than my education.
Arnold SchoenbergRead
True will is quiet humility, resilience, and flexibility; the other kind of will is weakness disguised by bluster and ambition.
Ryan HolidayRead
You can serve or you can sing, and wreck your heart in prayer, working the world's hard work.
Annie DillardRead