Quotes About Identity

What is it that happens in an inflation? The unit of money suddenly loses its identity. The crowd it is part of starts growing and, the larger it becomes, the smaller becomes the worth of each unit. The millions one always wanted are suddenly there in one's hand, but they are no longer millions in fact, but only in name.

All'interno della massa domina l'uguaglianza. Essa è assoluta e indiscutibile, e non è mai posta in questione dalla massa stessa.

Romani su klinovi koje neki glumac što piše zabija u ?vrstu li?nost svojih ?italaca. Što bol?e prora?una klin i otpor, to ?e ta li?nost ostati raspolu?enija. Trebalo bi da država zabrani romane.

As soon as a man has surrendered himself to the crowd, he ceases to fear its touch.

Mereu, în constelaÈ›iile schimb?toare ale haitei, în dansurile È™i în tr?s?turile ei, individul se va afla la margine. Va fi în?untru È™i apoi iar??i la margine, la margine È™i iar??i în?untru. Dac? haita formeaz? un cerc în jurul focului, el va avea vecini în dreapta È™i în stânga, dar spatele-i este liber; spatele f?r? ap?rare este expus s?lb?ticiei.

The business friend did not recognize the sewerman, which was not surprising as the man's face was no more than a shining turd.

One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.

We were masters of nature, masters of the world. We had forgotten everything--death, fatigue, our natural needs. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die, condemned and wandering, mere numbers, we were the only men on earth.

From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.

There are so many who know more than I do, who understand the world better than I do. I would be truly learned, a great scholar, if only I could retain everything I've learned from those I have known. But then would I still be me? And isn't all that only words? Words grow old, too; they change their meaning and their usage. They get sick just as we do; they die of their wounds and then they are relegated to the dust of dictionaries. And where am I in all this?

The night lifted, leaving behind it a grayish light the color of stagnant water. Soon there was only a tattered fragment of darkness, hanging in mid-air, the other side of the window. Fear caught my throat. The tattered fragment of darkness had a face. The face was my own.

Men to the left! Women to the right! Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight simple, short words. Yet that was the moment when I left my mother.

You are the sum total of all that we have been," said the youngster who looked like my former self. "In a way we are the ones to execute John Dawson. Because you can't do it without us. Now, do you see?" I was beginning to understand. An act so absolute as that of killing involves not only the killer but, as well, those who have formed him. In murdering a man I was making them murderers.

We were the masters of nature, the masters of the world. We had transcended everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth. At

Un giorno riuscii ad alzarmi, dopo aver raccolto tutte le mie forze. Volevo vedermi nello specchio che era appeso al muro di fronte: non mi ero più visto dal ghetto. Dal fondo dello specchio un cadavere mi contemplava. Il suo sguardo nei miei occhi non mi lascia più.

Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future

When you die and go to heaven our maker is not going to ask, 'why didn't you discover the cure for such and such? why didn't you become the Messiah?' The only question we will be asked in that precious moment is 'why didn't you become you?' Elie Wiesel

Jusqu'alors j'avais toujours cru que la mission du Juif consistait à être le tremblement de l'Histoire, plutôt que le vent qui la fait trembler.

Sion, pour moi, c'était une idée sainte, divine, un espoir messianique, une prière, un battement de coeur—et non un lieu géographique, une réalité politique, une cause au nom de laquelle on meurt ou on tue.

The night had passed completely. The morning star shone in the sky. I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded—and devoured—by a black flame.

Men to the left! Women to the right! Eight words spokern quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight simple, short words. Yet that was the moment when I left my mother.

This was the first story I had ever heard in which the Jews were not the ones to be afraid. Until this moment I had believed that the mission of the Jews was to represent the trembling of history rather than the wind which made it tremble

If today I am only a question mark, he is responsible.

But where shall I start? The world is so vast, I shall start with the country I know 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.