"The Drowned and the Saved" Quotes
In "The Drowned and the Saved," Primo Levi reflects on his experiences in Auschwitz and examines the psychological and moral complexities faced by both victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust.
nonfiction | 170 pages | Published in NaN
Quotes
Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.
Human memory is a marvelous but fallacious instrument. The memories which lie within us are not carved in stone; not only do they tend to become erased as the years go by, but often they change, or even increase by incorporating extraneous features.
A country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak and a powerful one too powerful.
I too entered the Lager as a nonbeliever, and as a nonbeliever I was liberated and have lived to this day.
In the Lager, and in the Lager alone, individuals were torn from the community and condemned to be totally isolated.
The aims of life are the best defense against death.
I do not know if it can be proved that an individual's chances of survival are greatly improved by his belonging to a nation with a well-organized and well-equipped army.
Many people, many nations can find themselves holding, more or less wittingly, that 'every stranger is an enemy.'
It is lucky for the rulers that men do not think.
For me, with no other thought, they opened the door and let me in.
