Quotes from Primo Levi

Válka, to je hlavnÄ› velký zmatek, na poli i v lidských hlavách: ?asto ?lovÄ›k ani nechápe, kdo vlastnÄ› vítÄ›zí a kdo prohrává, o tom pak rozhodnou generálové a ti, co píÅ¡ou dÄ›jepisné knihy.

What do you take me for? Do you think I was born yesterday? Do you think I have never dealt in eggs?

It was the very discomfort, the blows, the cold, the thirst that kept us aloft in the void of bottomless despair, both during the journey and after. It was not the will to live, nor a conscious resignation; for few are the men capable of such resolution, and we were but a common sample of humanity.

Distruggere l'uomo è difficile, quasi quanto crearlo: non è stato agevole, non è stato breve, ma ci siete riusciti, tedeschi. Eccoci docili sotto i vostri sguardi: da parte nostra nulla più avete a temere: non atti di rivolta, non parole di sfida, neppure uno sguardo giudice.

Het lijkt me overbodig hieraan toe te voegen dat geen enkel feit verzonnen is.

Když Tv?j pÃ…â"¢ítel padne, nemáÅ¡ se radovat, ale ani mu nemáÅ¡ pomoct vstát.

Sá»›m hay muá»™n trong cuá»™c ??i mình, má»—i ng??i s? khám phá ra r?ng h?nh phúc hoàn h?o là không có th?t nhÆ°ng ít ai ch?u ng?m nghÄ© v? Ä'i?u ng??c l?i: r?ng má»™t sá»± b?t h?nh hoàn h?o cÅ©ng không h? có...

Suicide is an act of man and not of the animal.

E ci dicese nell'animo, nuovo per noi, il dolore antico del popolo che non ha terra, il dolore senza speranza dell'esodo ogni secolo rinnovato.

A molti, individui o popoli, può accadere di ritenere, piú o meno consapevolmente, che «ogni straniero è nemico». Per lo piú questa convinzione giace in fondo agli animi come una infezione latente; si manifesta solo in atti saltuari e incoordinati, e non sta all'origine di un sistema di pensiero. Ma quando questo avviene, quando il dogma inespresso diventa premessa maggiore di un sillogismo, allora, al termine della catena, sta il Lager.

Caselli was a modest, taciturn man, in whose sad but proud eyes could be read: - He is a great scientist, and as his 'famulus', I am also a little great; - I, though humble, know things that he does not know; - I know him better than he knows himself; I foresee his acts; - I have power over him; I defend and protect him; - I can say bad things about him because I love him; that is not granted to you

Hitler Almanyas?'nda özel bir tutum yayg?nd?: Bilen konuÅŸmuyor, bilmeyen sormuyor ve soru sorana yan?t verilmiyordu.

He understood before any of us that this life is war; he permitted himself no indulgences, he lost no time complaining or commiserating with himself and with others, but entered the battle from the beginning.

Why does it happen? Why is the pain of every day translated so constantly into our dreams, in the ever-repeated scene of the unlistened-to story?

Wo sind die Andere? dove sono gli altri? - Forse trasferiti in altri campi ...? - propongo io Schmulek crolla il capo, si rivolge a Walter: - Er will nix verstayen - non vuole capire

Fear is supremely contagious, and its immediate reaction is to make one try to run away.

Nostalgia is a fragile and tender anguish, basically different, more intimate, more human than the other pains we had endured till then [...] Nostalgia is a limpid and clean pain, but demanding; it permeates every minute of the day, permits no other thoughts and induces a need for escape.

I will tell just one more story... and I will tell it with the humility and restraint of him who knows from the start that his theme is desperate, his means feeble, and the trade of clothing facts in words is bound by its very nature to fail.

But are they not themselves stories of a new Bible?

Perhaps memory is like a bucket; if you want to cram into it more fruit than it will hold, the fruit is crushed.

Oggi, questo vero oggi in cui io sto seduto a un tavolo e scrivo, io stesso non sono convinto che queste cose sono realmente accadute.

We travelled here in the sealed wagons; we saw our women and our children leave towards nothingness; we, transformed into slaves, have marched a hundred times backwards and forwards to our silent labors, killed in our spirit long before our anonymous death. No one must leave here and so carry to the world, together with the sign impressed on his skin, the evil tidings of what man's presumption made of man in Auschwitz.

He spoke grudgingly about his exploits. He did not belong to that species of persons who do things in order to talk about them (like me).

Pensavo molte cose insensate, e non pensavo alcune cose tristemente sensate.