The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
Elie WieselRead
It was pitch dark. I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek's soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings--his last hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again...When I awoke, in the daylight, I could see Juliek, opposite me, slumped over, dead. Near him lay his violin, smashed, trampled, a strange overwhelming little corpse.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the profound connection between music, life, and mortality.
In this poignant quote by Elie Wiesel, music serves as a powerful metaphor for human existence, as the character Juliek plays the violin, embodying his entire life, hopes, and despair through its notes. The stark contrast between the beauty of his music and the tragic reality of his death emphasizes the fragility of life and the powerful emotions that art can convey in times of suffering.
Themes
MusicLifeMortalityArtSuffering
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a memorial service to honor the life and passions of a loved one.
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.
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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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