Quotes from Etty Hillesum

Many who are indignant about injustices are only indignant because the injustices are being inflicted on them. Their indignation is skin-deep.

Uma pessoa pode ficar morta de cansaço devido a uma longa caminhada, ou à espera numa bicha, mas isso também faz parte da vida e algures há algo dentro de ti que nunca vai abandonar-te

Riassumendo vorrei in realtà dire: la barbarie nazista fa sorgere in noi un'identica barbarie che procederebbe con gli stessi metodi, se noi avessimo la possibilità di agire oggi come vorremmo. Dobbiamo respingere interiormente questa inciviltà, non possiamo coltivare in noi quell'odio perché altrimenti il mondo non uscirà di un solo passo dalla melma.

Se anche non rimanesse che un solo tedesco decente, quest'unico tedesco meriterebbe di essere difeso contro quella banda di barbari, e grazie a lui non si avrebbe il diritto di riversare il proprio odio su un popolo intero. […] L'odio indiscriminato è una malattia dell'anima, odiare non è nel mio carattere.

À pessoa que descansa em si não lhe interessa o tempo; a evolução não deve levar o tempo em conta.

J'ai reçu assez de dons intellectuels pour pouvoir tout sonder, tout aborder, tout saisir en formules claires ; on me croit supérieurement informée de bien des problèmes de la vie ; pourtant, là, tout au fond de moi, il y a une pelote agglutinée, quelque chose me retient dans une poigne de fer, et toute ma clarté de pensée ne m'empêche pas d'être bien souvent une pauvre godiche peureuse.

I believe that I know and share the many sorrows and sad circumstances that a human being can experience, but I do not cling to them, I do not prolong such moments of agony. They pass through me, like life itself, as a broad, eternal stream, they become part of that stream, and life continues. And as a result all my strength is preserved, does not become tagged onto futile sorrow or rebelliousness.

Ik zou een héél boek willen schrijven over een kiezelsteen en over een paars viooltje. Ik zou met één enkele kiezelsteen heel lang kunnen leven en een gevoel kunnen hebben in Gods machtige natuur te leven.

Ik heb me enige onsterfelijke verdiensten aan de mensheid verworven: ik heb nooit een slecht boek geschreven en ik heb het niet op m'n geweten, dat er een ongelukkige méér op deze aarde rondloopt.

Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge-from which new sorrows will be born for others-then sorrow will never cease in this world. And if you have given sorrow the space it demands, then you may truly say: life is beautiful and so rich.

Ik geloof niet in objectieve vaststellingen. Oneindig samenspel van menselijke wisselwerkingen.

We should be willing to act as a balm for all wounds.

I still made a short detour to seek out a flower stall, and went home with a large bunch of roses. They are just as real as all the misery I witness each day.

The inner world is as real as the outer world. One ought to be conscious of that… These two worlds are fed by each other, you must not neglect one at the expense of the other, must not deem one more important than the other.

Quando pensi che l'altro non ti consideri abbastanza, significa che gli sei legato e per via di questo legame non sei indipendente. Quanto meno ti aspetti, tanto più ricevi. Ciò che attendiamo da un altro, dunque dall'esterno, lo abbiamo inconsciamente dentro di noi. Anziché attenderlo dall'esterno, dobbiamo svilupparlo dentro di noi, acquistandone consapevolezza. L'anima non ha legami temporali, è eterna.

Es gibt Augenblicke, in denen ich mich wie ein kleiner Vogel in einer großen schützenden Hand geborgen fühle. Gestern war mein Herz ein in der Falle gefangener Vogel. Jetzt ist der Vogel wieder frei und fliegt ungehindert über alles hinweg. Heute scheint die Sonne. Und jetzt packe ich mein Brot ein und mache mich auf den Weg.

I can't really put it into words; in any case I am not yet as honest with myself as I should be and it is always hard to get to the bottom of things with words.

We go too far in fearing for our unhappy bodies, but our forgotten spirit shrivels up in some corner. Our lives are going wrong, we conduct ourselves without dignity. We lack historical sense, forget that even those about to perish are part of history. I hate nobody. I am not embittered. And once the love of mankind has germinated in you, it will grow without measure.

Dévorer les livres, comme je l'ai fait depuis ma plus tendre enfance, n'est qu'une forme de paresse. Je laisse à d'autres le soin de s'exprimer à ma place. Je cherche partout la confirmation de ce qui fermente et agit en moi, mais c'est avec mes mots à moi que je devrais essayer d'y voir clair. (45)

Il m'arrive souvent, ces derniers temps, de trouver plus facile de mourir que de vivre. (61)

Derrière la maison, la pluie et la tempête des derniers jours ont ravagé le jasmin, ses fleurs blanches flottent éparpillées dans les flaques noires sur le toit plat du garage. Mais quelque part en moi ce jasmin continue à fleurir, aussi exubérant, aussi tendre que par le passé." (176)

We tend to forget that not only must we gain inner freedom from one another, but we must also leave the other free and abandon any fixed concept we may have of him in our imagination.

J'ai écrit un jour que je voulais lire ta ie jusqu'à la dernière page. C'est chose faite, je l'ai lue jusqu'au bout. (202)

I shall try to help You, God, to stop my strength ebbing away, though I cannot vouch for it in advance. But one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me: that You cannot help us, that we must help You to help ourselves.