Aharon Appelfeld Quotes & Sayings

I didn't see her die, but I did hear her one and only scream — Aharon Appelfeld

I see myself as a man who is searching for meaning in life. This is rather different from being a staunch believer in something. A believer is someone who senses a consciousness or a direction and believes in it. The one who searches for meaning has not found the direction yet. — Aharon Appelfeld

Can art be completely invented? It's a matter of shaping reality with the help of imagination. — Aharon Appelfeld

I am not writing in metaphors. I am writing about catastrophes. — Aharon Appelfeld

A person has to be by himself a little bit. We weren't born in a flock. Togetherness drives me out of my mind. — Aharon Appelfeld

Over time I learned that objects and animals are true friends. In the forest I was surrounded by trees, bushes, birds, and small animals. I was not afraid of them. I was sure that they would do nothing harmful to me. I became familiar with cows and with horses, and they provided me with a warmth that has remained with me to this very day. Sometimes it seemed to me that what saved me were the animals I encountered along the way, not the human beings. — Aharon Appelfeld

Words are powerless when confronted by catastrophe; they're pitiable, wretched, and easily distorted — Aharon Appelfeld

I had a feeling that my generation-and me, also-we were naked. We did not belong to anything. — Aharon Appelfeld

One night I heard one of the refugees say, "There are atrocities that one should not speak about."
"Why?" wondered another refugee.
"I can't explain it to you."
"You have to speak about everything, so that everyone will know what they did to us."
"I'm not going to argue with you."
"If we won't be witnesses, who will bear witness?"
"They won't believe us, anyway. — Aharon Appelfeld

People who lose their parents when young are permanently in love with them. — Aharon Appelfeld

The Holocaust is a central event in many people's lives, but it also has become a metaphor for our century. There cannot be an end to speaking and writing about it. Besides, in Israel, everyone carries a biography deep inside him. — Aharon Appelfeld

A story is not only meaning, it's music as well. — Aharon Appelfeld

My nights are a nightmare, quite often, but the nightmares are rich. I nourish myself by those nights. — Aharon Appelfeld

The writer in western civilization has become not a voice of his tribe, but of his individuality. This is a very narrow-minded situation. — Aharon Appelfeld