"Perhaps one cannot, what is more one must……" — Primo Levi
"Perhaps one cannot, what is more one must not, understand what happened, because to understand [the Holocaust] is almost to justify...no normal human being will ever be able to identify with Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Eichmann, and endless others. This dismays us, and at the same time gives us a sense of relief, because perhaps it is desirable that their words (and also, unfortunately, their deeds) cannot be comprehensible to us. They are non-human words and deeds, really counter-human..."
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Primo Levi
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58 Quotes by Primo Levi
Primo Levi has 58 quotes on this site.
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There is Auschwitz, and so there cannot be God.
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Anyone who has obeyed nature by transmitting a piece of gossip experiences the explosive relief that accompanies the satisfying of…
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Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his…
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To accuse another of having weak kidneys, lungs, or heart, is not a crime; on the contrary, saying he has…
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The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is…
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The butterfly's attractiveness derives not only from colors and symmetry: deeper motives contribute to it. We would not think them…
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They sensed that what had happened around them and in their presence, and in them, was irrevocable. Never again could…
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After the planet becomes theirs, many millions of years will have to pass before a beetle particularly loved by God,…
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Conquering matter is to understand it, and understanding matter is necessary to understanding the universe and ourselves: and that therefore…
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I too entered the Lager as a nonbeliever, and as a nonbeliever I was liberated and have lived to this…
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An enemy who sees the error of his ways ceases to be an enemy.
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The sea's only gifts are harsh blows and occasionally the chance to feel strong.
See all 58 quotes by Primo Levi »
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