The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Elie WieselRead
My faceless neighbor spoke up: “Don’t be deluded. Hitler has made it clear that he will annihilate all Jews before the clock strikes twelve.” I exploded: “What do you care what he said? Would you want us to consider him a prophet? His cold eyes stared at me. At last he said, wearily: “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a deep disillusionment with faith in humanity compared to the certainty of evil.
In this quote, Elie Wiesel illustrates a disturbing perspective on faith and trust during a time of great moral crisis. The speaker expresses a profound disappointment in humanity's capacity for good, contrasting it with an unsettling acknowledgment of Adolf Hitler's consistent fulfillment of his deadly promises. This bleak outlook signals a struggle between hope for better leadership and the grim reality of a malevolent ruler’s unyielding commitment to his destructive ideologies.
Themes
FaithEvilDisillusionmentHumanityTruth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech discussing the importance of confronting injustice, I might quote Wiesel to illustrate the dangers of misplaced faith.
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.
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Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.
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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.
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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
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