When I pray, I never pray for myself, always for others, or else I hold a silly, naive, or deadly serious dialogue with what is deepest inside me, which for the sake of convenience I call God. Praying to God… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
Slowly but surely I have been soaking Rilke up these last few months: the man, his work and his life. And that is probably the only right way with literature, with study, with people or with anything else: to let… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
A large group of us were crowded into the Gestapo hall, and at that moment the circumstances of all our lives were the same.… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else. — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
That fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything. — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
There are moments when I feel like giving up or giving in, but I soon rally again and do my duty as I see… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
Here, beside this great black surface that is my desk, I feel as though I am on a desert island. — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
The externals are simply so many props; everything we need is within us. — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
If one finds the strength to deal with small things, one finds it to deal with the large ones as well. — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
All disasters stem from us. Why is there a war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at my neighbour.… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
We human beings cause monstrous conditions, but precisely because we cause them we soon learn to adapt ourselves to them. Only if we become… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
Sometimes my day is crammed full of people and talk and yet I have the feeling of living in utter peace and quiet. And… — Etty Hillesum Copy Share Image
