--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Better that one heart be broken a…" description: "\"Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/elie-wiesel-341_broken_better-that-one-heart-be-broken-a-thousa_2213146.png" --- # Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the… ![“Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all.” quote by Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/elie-wiesel-341_broken_better-that-one-heart-be-broken-a-thousa_2213146.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/elie-wiesel-341_broken_better-that-one-heart-be-broken-a-thousa_2213146.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/elie-wiesel-341_broken_better-that-one-heart-be-broken-a-thousa_2213146.png) > “Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all.” [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing to endure personal heartbreak can prevent widespread suffering, emphasizing sacrifice for collective well‑being. **In simple terms:** Endure pain to protect many. Key Takeaway Prioritize collective welfare. Themes ethics sacrifice empathy community Mood thoughtful serious Type ethical literary When to use this quote - family crises - social movements - healthcare decisions Key Concepts moral responsibility collective care Questions to Reflect On - When is personal sacrifice justified? - How can we protect others without self‑harm? A Different Perspective May glorify suffering as necessary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken/) [Broken Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken-heart-231836/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Retelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retelling/) [Retelling Decided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retelling-decided-4908854/) [Sand Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sand-time/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand Hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-hearts-476635/) [Thousand Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-times/) [Times Retelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/times-retelling-4908855/) ## Related quotes > [But because of his telling, many who did not believe have come to believe, and some who did not care have come to care.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/but-because-of-his-telling-many-who-did-not-believe-have-come-to/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Am so much interested in winning a thousand hearts, than winning one heart. Coz that heart will be special, I will love with all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacent-nakato/am-so-much-interested-in-winning-a-thousand-hearts-than-winning-one/) [Jacent Nakato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacent-nakato/) > [Being a bad writer a thousand times first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-simone/being-a-bad-writer-a-thousand-times-first/) [Gail Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-simone/) > [“In my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-richie/in-my-dreams-i-ve-kissed-your-lips-a-thousand-times/) [Lionel Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-richie/) > [“Your life has been lived a hundred times. A thousand times. It's not all that great, really. Don't take it so seriously. 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But the reason why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-me-homesick/you-re-in-a-better-place-i-ve-heard-a-thousand-times-and-at-least-a/) [Mercy Me - Homesick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-me-homesick/) > [We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-francis-de-sales/we-must-visit-jesus-in-the-blessed-sacrament-a-hundred-thousand-times/) [Saint Francis de Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-francis-de-sales/) > [“I could tell you a thousand times, How much I love you, It still would not do justice on how much I love you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-chillemi/i-could-tell-you-a-thousand-times-how-much-i-love-you-it-still-would/) [Stacey Chillemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-chillemi/) > [Sometimes you need to try a thousand times just to win](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-ramkran/sometimes-you-need-to-try-a-thousand-times-just-to-win/) [Christine Ramkran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-ramkran/) > [Ten thousand times I've done my best and all's to do again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/ten-thousand-times-i-ve-done-my-best-and-all-s-to-do-again/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [There are often some hundred times, a thousand times, before you can really see it for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-morgenstern/there-are-often-some-hundred-times-a-thousand-times-before-you-can/) [Christian Morgenstern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-morgenstern/) > [“Life was always ten thousand times more complicated than it seemed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-t-vargus/life-was-always-ten-thousand-times-more-complicated-than-it-seemed/) [L.T. Vargus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-t-vargus/) > [The idea of doing something that you've seen a thousand times before doesn't appeal to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-phillippe/the-idea-of-doing-something-that-you-ve-seen-a-thousand-times-before/) [Ryan Phillippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-phillippe/) > [“It's better to practice one thing a thousand times, than practice a thousand things one time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-c-wilson/it-s-better-to-practice-one-thing-a-thousand-times-than-practice-a/) [Glenn C. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-c-wilson/) > [“A thousand times a coward and not once a dead man”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suad-amiry/a-thousand-times-a-coward-and-not-once-a-dead-man/) [Suad Amiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suad-amiry/) ## More by Elie Wiesel > [A religious person answers to God, not to the elected or non-elected official.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/a-religious-person-answers-to-god-not-to-the-elected-or-non-elected/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/one-more-stab-to-the-heart-one-more-reason-to-hate-one-less-reason-to/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/what-all-these-victims-need-above-all-is-to-know-that-they-are-not/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I feel that books, just like people, have a destiny. Some invite sorrow, others joy, some both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-feel-that-books-just-like-people-have-a-destiny-some-invite-sorrow/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [ \[Chinese\] are a huge empire now, you'll soon be - in a few years two billion people in the world. 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Scientifically, you may have an explanation for it, but I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/take-the-story-of-cain-and-abel-why-were-we-given-that-story/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/mankind-must-remember-that-peace-is-not-god-s-gift-to-his-creatures/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/the-world-the-world-is-not-interested-in-us-today-everything-is/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-question-possessed-a-power-that-was-lost-in-the-answer/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [His cold eyes stared at me. At last, he said wearily: "I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/his-cold-eyes-stared-at-me-at-last-he-said-wearily-i-have-more-faith/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [As you know, I describe Shirat ha-Yam as part of an epic story that has qualities of history and which also has qualities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/as-you-know-i-describe-shirat-ha-yam-as-part-of-an-epic-story-that/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Every Jew, somewhere in his being, should set apart a zone of hate -healthy virile hate- for what the German personifies and for what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-jew-somewhere-in-his-being-should-set-apart-a-zone-of-hate/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“Did hope help us to survive, or not? Too many families clung to it all through the war, thus falling into the enemy's trap.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/did-hope-help-us-to-survive-or-not-too-many-families-clung-to-it-all/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) [Explore all 662 Elie Wiesel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) ## More Broken quotes > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/broken-by-hardships-disappointments-and-tragedy-people-can-become/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [You don't want to fix things that aren't broken, so that kind of stops you from make changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-weidman/you-don-t-want-to-fix-things-that-aren-t-broken-so-that-kind-of-stops/) [Chris Weidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-weidman/) > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Marriage is a desperate thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-selden/marriage-is-a-desperate-thing/) [John Selden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-selden/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [There is no pain like the first time you get your heart broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ne-yo/there-is-no-pain-like-the-first-time-you-get-your-heart-broken/) [Ne-Yo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ne-yo/) > [Broken china lasts longer than unbroken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-renard/broken-china-lasts-longer-than-unbroken/) [Jules Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-renard/) > [My life was incoherent to me. I felt it quivering, spitting out broken teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/my-life-was-incoherent-to-me-i-felt-it-quivering-spitting-out-broken/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [Don't fix what's not broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-atkins/don-t-fix-what-s-not-broken/) [Robert Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-atkins/) > [“ving self and others is an every second of every day of every week, of every month, of every year gift that should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjo-jendayi/ving-self-and-others-is-an-every-second-of-every-day-of-every-week-of/) [Sanjo Jendayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjo-jendayi/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. 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