“An indifference to suffering makes humans inhuman”

I write to understand as much as to be understood.

My faith is a wounded faith, but my life is not without faith. I didn’t divorce God, but I’m quarrelling and arguing and questioning, it’s a wounded faith.

To forget a Holocaust is to kill twice.

Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.

A Jew must be sensitive to the pain of all human beings. A Jew cannot remain indifferent to human suffering… The mission of the Jewish people has never been to make the world more Jewish, but to make it more human.

Every moment is a new beginning.

No human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?

I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.

You’re shaking … so am I. It’s because of Jerusalem, isn’t it? One doesn’t go to Jerusalem, one returns to it. That’s one of its mysteries.

The most important question a human being has to face. What is it? The question, Why are we here?

In the beginning there was faith – which is childish; trust – which is vain; and illusion – which is dangerous.

For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. Not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are responsible for what we do with those memories

Today, as yesterday, a nation is judged by its attitude towards refugees.

When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.

I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I’ve been closer to him for that reason.

But where was I to start? The world is so vast, I shall start with the country I knew best, my own. But my country is so very large. I had better start with my town. But my town, too, is large. I had best start with my street. No, my home. No, my family. Never mind, I shall start with myself.

I’ve always maintained that it isn’t the form that’s going to make the difference. It isn’t the rule or the procedure or the ideology, but it’s human beings that will make it.

To the optimist all doors have handles and hinges; to the pessimist, all doors have locks and latches.

The only difference between you and someone you envy is you settled for less

The difference between you and the person you envy, is that you settle for less.

I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

Is this still worth doing? And if it isn’t, he gets rid of it so as to be able to concentrate on the few tasks that, if done with excellence, will really make a difference in the results of his own job and in the performance of his organization.

Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.