If we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices. And then I explain to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.
Elie Wiesel, from his acceptance speech for the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
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