Etty Hillesum

A large group of us were crowded into the Gestapo hall, and at that moment the circumstances of all our lives were…

— Etty Hillesum

Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else.

— Etty Hillesum

That fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything.

— Etty Hillesum

There are moments when I feel like giving up or giving in, but I soon rally again and do my duty as…

— Etty Hillesum

Here, beside this great black surface that is my desk, I feel as though I am on a desert island.

— Etty Hillesum

The externals are simply so many props; everything we need is within us.

— Etty Hillesum

If one finds the strength to deal with small things, one finds it to deal with the large ones as well.

— Etty Hillesum

All disasters stem from us. Why is there a war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at…

— Etty Hillesum

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.

— Etty Hillesum

We human beings cause monstrous conditions, but precisely because we cause them we soon learn to adapt ourselves to them. Only if…

— Etty Hillesum

Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.

— Etty Hillesum

Sometimes my day is crammed full of people and talk and yet I have the feeling of living in utter peace and…

— Etty Hillesum

To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse,…

— Etty Hillesum

If one burdens the future with one's worries, it cannot grow organically. I am filled with confidence, not that I shall succeed…

— Etty Hillesum

We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies. We make…

— Etty Hillesum

How rash to assert that man shapes his own destiny. All he can do is determine his inner responses.

— Etty Hillesum

I keep remembering from my early student days how I would walk at night through the streets, my hands bunched into fists…

— Etty Hillesum

I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.

— Etty Hillesum

Become simple and live simply, not only within yourself but also in your everyday dealings. Don’t make ripples all around you, don’t…

— Etty Hillesum

I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe…

— Etty Hillesum

When I pray, I never pray for myself, always for others, or else I hold a silly, naive, or deadly serious dialogue…

— Etty Hillesum

Life cannot be captured in a few axioms. And that is just what I keep trying to do. But it won't work,…

— Etty Hillesum

Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories, but I always end up with just one…

— Etty Hillesum

Every day I shall put my papers in order and every day I shall say farewell. And the real farewell, when it…

— Etty Hillesum

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards…

— Etty Hillesum