11 Quotes & Sayings By Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum was a Dutch teenager and diarist who lived in and around the town of Arnhem during World War II. She became an eyewitness to Nazi atrocities and she chronicled her experiences in a diary that became one of the most important documents of the Holocaust. Her diary was published after her death in English in 1952.

1
Ik zou een héél boek willen schrijven over een kiezelsteen en over een paars viooltje. Ik zou met één enkele kiezelsteen heel lang kunnen leven en een gevoel kunnen hebben in Gods machtige natuur te leven. Etty Hillesum
2
Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world. Etty Hillesum
3
Every word born of an inner necessity - writing must never be anything else. Etty Hillesum
4
Suffering has always been with us does it really matter in what form it comes? All that matters is how we bear it and how we fit it into our lives. Etty Hillesum
5
That fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything. Etty Hillesum
6
The externals are simply so many props everything we need is within us. Etty Hillesum
7
Sometimes I try my hand at turning out small profundities and uncertain short stories but I always end up with just one single word: God. Etty Hillesum
8
Our desire must be like a slow and stately ship sailing across endless oceans never in search of safe anchorage. Then suddenly unexpectedly it will find mooring for a moment. Etty Hillesum
9
We have to fight them daily like fleas those many small worries about the morrow for they sap our energies. Etty Hillesum
10
I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength. Etty Hillesum