--- description: Here are some of Elie Wiesel's best quotes. The human rights activist, whose words informed and inspired millions, died Saturday at 87 title: Elie Wiesel: 6 Powerful Quotes From the Holocaust Survivor image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54424c6a5b172d27/69889a7f3c1639917945de5d/elie-wiesel-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Action Is the Only Remedy to Indifference': Elie Wiesel's Most Powerful Quotes  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2016 9:39 PM CUT  Elie Wiesel, an author internationally known for his depiction of the Holocaust, speaks after receiving an honorary degree from the University of Hartford in West Hartford, CT, on June 5, 1985. Elie Wiesel, an author internationally known for his depiction of the Holocaust, speaks after receiving an honorary degree from the University of Hartford in West Hartford, CT, on June 5, 1985.Bob Child—AP  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2016 9:39 PM CUT [Elie Wiesel](http://time.com/4392241/elie-wiesel-10-questions/ "undefined"), a Nobel Peace Prize winner and [Holocaust survivor](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988156-1,00.html "undefined") who wrote the internationally acclaimed memoir _Night_, [died Saturday](http://time.com/4392239/elie-wiesel-dead-holocaust-survivor/?xid=homepage "undefined") at the age of 87. He was an outspoken human rights activist whose words informed and inspired millions around the world, as he advocated for social justice and implored people to remember the Holocaust. Below are some of his most memorable words of wisdom: 1. “Whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness,” [he said](http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/wiesel/index.asp "undefined") at the Legacy of Holocaust Survivors conference at Yad Vashem’s Valley of the Communities in April 2002. 2. “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe,” he said in his [Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech](http://time.com/4392267/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize-speech/ "undefined") on Dec. 10, 1986. 3. “Action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all,” [he said](http://time.com/4392267/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize-speech/ "undefined") in the same speech. 4. “For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences,” he wrote in _Night_, his internationally acclaimed memoir, published in 1960. 5. “For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead _and_ for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time,” he also wrote in the memoir. 6. “\[Albert\] Camus said, ‘Where there is no hope, one must invent hope.’ It is only pessimistic if you stop with the first half of the sentence and just say, There is no hope. Like Camus, even when it seems hopeless, I invent reasons to hope,” he said in an [interview with TIME](http://time.com/4392241/elie-wiesel-10-questions/ "undefined") in 2006. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4392252/elie-wiesel-dead-best-quotes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4392252/elie-wiesel-dead-best-quotes/"},"headline":"'Action Is the Only Remedy to Indifference': Elie Wiesel's Most Powerful Quotes","datePublished":"2016-07-02T21:39:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:01:33.718Z","description":"\"Action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all\"","url":"https://time.com/4392252/elie-wiesel-dead-best-quotes/","keywords":["remembrance","Holocaust","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54424c6a5b172d27/69889a7f3c1639917945de5d/elie-wiesel-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54424c6a5b172d27/69889a7f3c1639917945de5d/elie-wiesel-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Elie Wiesel","caption":"Elie Wiesel, an author internationally known for his depiction of the Holocaust, speaks after receiving an honorary degree from the University of Hartford in West Hartford, CT, on June 5, 1985.","creditText":"Bob Child—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4392252/elie-wiesel-dead-best-quotes/","name":"'Action Is the Only Remedy to Indifference': Elie Wiesel's Most Powerful Quotes"}}]}] ```