--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Elie Wiesel has for years served as the…" description: "\"Elie Wiesel has for years served as the moral compass of the civilized world. For many of us, including me, he has defined the Holocaust.\" — Hershel Sh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/hershel-shanks-25800_civilized_elie-wiesel-has-for-years-served-as-the_2312040.jpg" --- # Elie Wiesel has for years served as the moral compass of… ![“Elie Wiesel has for years served as the moral compass of the civilized world. For many of us, including me, he has defined the Holocaust.” quote by Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/hershel-shanks-25800_civilized_elie-wiesel-has-for-years-served-as-the_2312040.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/hershel-shanks-25800_civilized_elie-wiesel-has-for-years-served-as-the_2312040.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c7/hershel-shanks-25800_civilized_elie-wiesel-has-for-years-served-as-the_2312040.jpg) > “Elie Wiesel has for years served as the moral compass of the civilized world. For many of us, including me, he has defined the Holocaust.” [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Elie Wiesel serves as a moral guide, shaping our understanding of the Holocaust. **In simple terms:** Wiesel defines Holocaust memory. Key Takeaway Learn from moral leaders. Themes memory ethics history Mood respectful somber Type historical educational When to use this quote - education - public discourse - memorial events - policy making Key Concepts Holocaust studies human rights Questions to Reflect On - Why is Wiesel’s voice pivotal? - How can we keep Holocaust lessons relevant? A Different Perspective Moral authority can be contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Compass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compass/) [Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral compass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-compass/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [When somebody says that six million people died in the Holocaust, there is nobody in the world who can understand that. It's only through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzodinma-iweala/when-somebody-says-that-six-million-people-died-in-the-holocaust/) [Uzodinma Iweala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzodinma-iweala/) > [“Luz Castro "And then i explain that the world did know and remained silent. and that is why I swore never to be silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/luz-castro-and-then-i-explain-that-the-world-did-know-and-remained/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [ If I do an interview with \[Holocaust survivor\] Elie Wiesel, am I required as a journalist to find a Holocaust denier? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-pelley/if-i-do-an-interview-with-holocaust-survivor-elie-wiesel-am-i/) [Scott Pelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-pelley/) > [Most of my professional work has been in these areas - as a historical critic, as a literary critic. I've done very little in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/most-of-my-professional-work-has-been-in-these-areas-as-a-historical/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, Elie Wiesel is also the author of more than 40 books. As relevant as anything to today's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/awarded-the-nobel-peace-prize-in-1986-elie-wiesel-is-also-the-author/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [ I know that the Bible has been a central influence in \[Elie Wiesel and Frank Moore Cross\] lives - but in a very different… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/i-know-that-the-bible-has-been-a-central-influence-in-elie-wiesel-and/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [ Both of you \[Elie Wiesel and Frank Moore Cross\] are giants, dare I say nephilim \[giants; see Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33\], in your world. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/both-of-you-elie-wiesel-and-frank-moore-cross-are-giants-dare-i-say/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [My hair is my everything: my best friend, my mentor, my moral compass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-murray/my-hair-is-my-everything-my-best-friend-my-mentor-my-moral-compass/) [Keith Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-murray/) > [Democracy needs a moral compass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/democracy-needs-a-moral-compass/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [We need to elect leaders who have a strong moral compass. Leaders who are honest, straightforward, and tough - with a love of justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-o-neill/we-need-to-elect-leaders-who-have-a-strong-moral-compass-leaders-who/) [Ed O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-o-neill/) > [Many of these Americans who are struggling to survive are Americans of color, .. Their cries for assistance confront America with a test of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elijah-cummings/many-of-these-americans-who-are-struggling-to-survive-are-americans/) [Elijah Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elijah-cummings/) > [People who do not know the Bible well have been gulled into thinking it is a good guide to morality. This mistaken view may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/people-who-do-not-know-the-bible-well-have-been-gulled-into-thinking/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [There is an ancient Indian saying: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." If we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-schroeder/there-is-an-ancient-indian-saying-we-do-not-inherit-the-earth-from/) [Patricia Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-schroeder/) > [I take no pleasure in seeing DeLay swing gently in the wind. But the thing I believe in the most is ethics. If someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-delay/i-take-no-pleasure-in-seeing-delay-swing-gently-in-the-wind-but-the/) [Tom DeLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-delay/) > [Whether you are buying a car or casting a ballot, choosing a job or planning a family, follow your moral compass. Don't let others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-hayes/whether-you-are-buying-a-car-or-casting-a-ballot-choosing-a-job-or/) [Denis Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-hayes/) ## More by Hershel Shanks > [ We differ \[with Frank Moore Cross\] simply because of our differing backgrounds. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/we-differ-with-frank-moore-cross-simply-because-of-our-differing/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [The Bible is a book that has shaped my life, my beliefs, my ethics, my moral concerns, my religious outlook. This is not something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/the-bible-is-a-book-that-has-shaped-my-life-my-beliefs-my-ethics-my/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [ I know that the Bible has been a central influence in \[Elie Wiesel and Frank Moore Cross\] lives - but in a very different… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/i-know-that-the-bible-has-been-a-central-influence-in-elie-wiesel-and/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [I think that there are these two very different sides to my relation to the Bible: one, my professional life; the other, a more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/i-think-that-there-are-these-two-very-different-sides-to-my-relation/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [ As long as I'm giving a little hype, I can't resist saying that Elie \[Wiesel\] has also written a number of pieces for Bible… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/as-long-as-i-m-giving-a-little-hype-i-can-t-resist-saying-that-elie/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, Elie Wiesel is also the author of more than 40 books. As relevant as anything to today's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/awarded-the-nobel-peace-prize-in-1986-elie-wiesel-is-also-the-author/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [Frank Moore Cross is also a leading Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, which he's been since they were discovered more than 50 years ago. He's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/frank-moore-cross-is-also-a-leading-dead-sea-scrolls-scholar-which-he/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [In my work, I attempt to deal with the Bible as I would deal with any work of literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/in-my-work-i-attempt-to-deal-with-the-bible-as-i-would-deal-with-any/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [I think that there is a certain schizophrenic aspect to my own relation to the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/i-think-that-there-is-a-certain-schizophrenic-aspect-to-my-own/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [I've been on a faculty in a university, and I felt it was incumbent on me to deal with the Bible not as something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/i-ve-been-on-a-faculty-in-a-university-and-i-felt-it-was-incumbent-on/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [At McCormick Theological Seminary I had to take Hebrew, so I began to read prophetic poetry, and suddenly it became the life I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/at-mccormick-theological-seminary-i-had-to-take-hebrew-so-i-began-to/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [For 35 years, Frank Cross held one of the most prestigious chairs in academia: the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/for-35-years-frank-cross-held-one-of-the-most-prestigious-chairs-in/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [Most of my professional work has been in these areas - as a historical critic, as a literary critic. I've done very little in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/most-of-my-professional-work-has-been-in-these-areas-as-a-historical/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [To treat the history of Israel as I would treat the history of England or Russia or China; that is, an attempt at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/to-treat-the-history-of-israel-as-i-would-treat-the-history-of/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) > [ We \[with Frank Moore Cross\] have the same fervor, the same passion when in front of us is a page, a unique page -… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hershel-shanks/we-with-frank-moore-cross-have-the-same-fervor-the-same-passion-when/) [Hershel Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) [Explore all 22 Hershel Shanks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hershel-shanks/) ## More Civilized quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/) Joseph Anderson > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/) [Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/) > [As long as there are prisons, police, armies, navies; we are not civilized. When the Earth joins together and uses the Earth intelligently, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/as-long-as-there-are-prisons-police-armies-navies-we-are-not/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [We're all intrigued, in our civilized world that we live in, and curious about how we would get on, on an undiscovered island that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/we-re-all-intrigued-in-our-civilized-world-that-we-live-in-and/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/savage-peoples-are-ruled-by-passion-civilized-peoples-by-the-mind/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) Browse all 1,043 Civilized quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Elie Wiesel has for years served as the moral compass of the civilized world. 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