"Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil." (Interview with U.S. News and World Report, 1986)
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." (The Nobel Peace Prize speech, 1986)
"No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night." (The Nobel Peace Prize speech, 1986)
"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death." (Interview with U.S. media, 1986)
“If I survived, it must be for some reason. I must do something with my life. It is too serious to play games with anymore, because in my place, someone else could have been saved. And so I speak for that person. On the other hand, I know I cannot.” (Interview with The New York Times, 1981)
"No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them." (Interview to Parade Magazine, 1992)
"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living ... To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." ( from "Night")
"What is abnormal is that I am normal. That I survived the Holocaust and went on to love beautiful girls, to talk, to write, to have toast and tea and live my life -- that is what is abnormal." (Interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2000)
"No human being is illegal." (The Nobel Peace Prize speech, 1986)
“The only role I sought was that of witness. I believed that having survived by chance, I was duty-bound to give meaning to my survival, to justify each moment of my life.” (from "Why I Write," 1978)
