Elie Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928 in Sighetu Marmației, Romania. He survived the horrors of the Holocaust, and was a political activist, writer, professor, Nobel Laureate and author. His novel "Night," in which he recounts his and his father's experiences in the Nazi Germany concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald from 1944 to 1945, was the first book I read in my 10th grade English class and it had a profound effect on me, sparking my interest in the history of World War II. I couldn't understand how there could be so much evil in the world, and it saddened me beyond words. But, I understood the importance of Wiesel's account: it enabled readers to experience the truth. The painful, disgusting, heartbreaking truth of what happened, and made us understand the importance of making sure something so evil would never happen again. He died July 2nd of this year in New York City. In remembrance and honor of a great man, I've put together a collection of some of his most inspiring quotes in the hope that we never forget what he and millions of others had to endure during World War II and that we learn from that tragedy to ensure something so awful never happens again.

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

“Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.”

“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.”

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”

“When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.”

“One person of integrity can make a difference.”

“If the only prayer you say throughout your life is "Thank You," then that will be enough.”

“No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them."

“I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.”

“For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences.”

To a man who inspired us all with his perseverance and strength in the face of unimaginable pain, loss, and suffering: Thank you. Thank you for shedding light on your most painful experiences so that the human race could learn to the importance of not repeating the past and always remembering what we can never and should never and will never forget.