I got this quote from Carly when she went to Thailand. It is taken from Elie Wiesel’s speech called “The Perils of Indifference”….
“In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.
Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor– never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees– not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.”
I listened to his whole speech today. I would highly recommend it. Check it out… Here
Very convicting and challenging. A good reminder that I need to fight against Indifference in my life.
hi janelle! so, i randomly (and kind of ashamedly- on a saturday night!) came across your blog! i loved it! we haven’t caught up in a while and now i feel as if i’ve been updated on your life! i hope things are going well for you! i love and miss you a lot! and i’ll have to keep checking this until you call me… wink wink!
just in case you forgot… 951-265-6279 and i’ll be in southern california this week for kellie’s wedding!
i would love to get together!!!!!
Love it. He is 100 percent right.
I think he’s touched on one of the biggest challenges facing Americans these days. The busyness of our everyday lives and the distractions of our commercial society cause us to be indifferent or at least oblivious to suffering in the rest of the world. It just numbs us.
Thanks for sharing the speech! It’s a good reminder.