Quotes About Responsibility

Every murder is a suicide.

Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere. That

God does not create other people so we could turn our backs on them.

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.

Je me souvenais de ce que mon vieux maître à la barbe jaunie m'avait dit un jour en m'expliquant le sixième commandement: pourquoi un homme n'aurait-il pas le droit de tuer? En tuant, expliquait-il, l'homme devient Dieu. Et nous n'avons pas le droit de le devenir trop facilement.

My father was a cultured man, rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin. The Jewish community of Sighet held him in highest esteem; his advice on public and even private matters was frequently sought. There were four of us children. Hilda, the eldest; then Bea; I was the third and the only son; Tzipora was the youngest.

I remember he asked his father, "Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?" And

We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

One must not rely on the dead," he said. "One must rely on the living—and on God who gives life to the living.

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

Prendi posizione. La neutralità favorisce sempre l'oppressore, non la vittima. Il silenzio incoraggia sempre il torturatore, non il torturato

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.

Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?" And

Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices. And

His last word had been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered. I

Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere. To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.

the rabbi comes in to read the Psalms with you and hear you say the Vidui, that terrible confession in which you admit your responsibility not only for the sins you have committed, whether by word, deed, or thought, but also for those you may have caused others to commit.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always takes sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented

None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims.

Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.

Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately.

Guilt and no guilt: these were the worst things. The only thing worse than the guilt was the fear of getting caught.