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“Compassion and brutality can coexist in the same individual and in the same moment...”
― Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved

“If we had to and were able to suffer the sufferings of everyone, we could not live.”
― Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved

“The living are more demanding; the dead can wait.”
― Primo Levi, If This Is a Man �� The Truce

“It is man who kills, man who creates or suffers injustice; it is no longer man who, having lost all restraint, shares his bed with a corpse. Whoever waits for his neighbor to die in order to take his piece of bread is, albeit guiltless, further from the model of
thinking man than the most primitive pigmy or the most vicious sadist".”
― Primo Levi, If This Is a Man �� The Truce

“That the nobility of Man, acquired in a hundred centuries of trial and error, lay in making himself the conquerer of matter, and that I had enrolled in chemistry because I wanted to maintain faithful to that nobility. That conquering matter is to understand it, and understanding matter is necessary to understanding the universe and ourselves: and that therefore Mendeleev’s Periodic Table, which just during those weeks we were laboriously learning to unravel, was poetry, loftier and more solemn than all the poetry we had swallowed doen in liceo; and come to think of it, it even rhymed! ��

[T]he chemistry and physics on which we fed, besides being in themselves nourishments vital in themselves, were the antidotes to Fascism �� because they were clear and distinct and verifiable at every step, and not a tissue of lies and emptiness like the radio and newspapers.”
― Primo Levi, The Periodic Table

“Finally, and even more seriously, I fear a return to the international climate that prevailed in the 1920s and '30s, when the United States withdrew from the global stage and countries everywhere pursued what they perceived to be their own interests without regard to larger and more enduring goals. When arguing that every age has its own Fascism, the Italian writer and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi added that the critical point can be reached “not just through the terror of police intimidation, but by denying and distorting information, by undermining systems of justice, by paralyzing the education system, and by spreading in a myriad subtle ways nostalgia for a world where order reigned.�� If he is right (and I think he is), we have reason to be concerned by the gathering array of political and social currents buffeting us today—currents propelled by the dark underside of the technological revolution, the corroding effects of power, the American president’s disrespect for truth, and the widening acceptance of dehumanizing insults, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism as being within the bounds of normal public debate. We are not there yet, but these feel like signposts on the road back to an era when Fascism found nourishment and individual tragedies were multiplied millions-fold.”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning

“They are the typical product of the structure of the German Lager: if one offers a position of privilege to a few individuals in a state of slavery, exacting in exchange the betrayal of a natural solidarity with their
comrades, there will certainly be someone who will accept. He will be withdrawn from the common law and will become untouchable; the more power that he is given, the more he will be consequently hateful and
hated. When he is given the command of a group of unfortunates, with the right of life or death over them, he will be cruel and tyrannical, because he will understand that if he is not sufficiently so, someone else, judged more suitable, will take over his post.

Moreover, his capacity for hatred, unfulfilled in the direction of the oppressors, will double back, beyond all reason, on the oppressed; and he will only be satisfied when he has unloaded onto his underlings the injury received from above.”
― Primo Levi, If This Is a Man �� The Truce

“... and finally there came the customer we'd always dreamed of, who wanted us as consultants. To be a consultant is the ideal work, the sort from which you derive prestige and money without dirtying your hands, or breaking your backbone, or running the risk of ending up roasted or poisoned: all you have to do is take off your smock, put on your tie, listen in attentive silence to the problem, and then you'll feel like the Delphic oracle. You must then weigh your reply very carefully and formulate it in convoluted, vague language so that the customer also considers you an oracle, worthy of his faith and the rates set by the Chemists' Society.”
― Primo Levi, The Periodic Table

“He was a bricklayer; for fifty years, in Italy, America, France, then again in Italy, and finally in Germany, he had laid bricks, and every brick had been cemented with curses. He cursed continuously, but not mechanically; he cursed with method and care, acrimoniously, pausing to find the right word, frequently correcting himself and losing his temper when unable to find the word he wanted; then he cursed the curse that would not come.”
― Primo Levi, If This Is a Man �� The Truce

“D’Agata non aveva tempo di sognare, perché era ossessionato dal terrore delle cimici. Queste incomode compagne non piacevano a nessuno, naturalmente; ma tutti avevamo finito col farci l’abitudine. Non erano poche e sparse, ma un esercito compatto, che col sopraggiungere della primavera aveva invaso tutti i nostri giacigli: stavano annidate di giorno nelle fenditure dei muri e delle cuccette di legno, e partivano in scorreria non appena cessava il tramestio del giorno. A cedere loro una piccola porzione del nostro sangue, ci saremmo rassegnati di buon grado: era meno facile abituarsi a sentirle correre furtive sul viso e sul corpo, sotto gli abiti. Potevano dormire tranquilli solo quelli che avevano la fortuna di godere di un sonno pesante, e che riuscivano a cadere nell’incoscienza prima che quelle altre si risvegliassero. D’Agata, che era un minuscolo, sobrio, riservato e pulitissimo muratore siciliano, si era ridotto a dormire di giorno, e passava le notti appollaiato sul letto, guardandosi intorno con occhi dilatati dall’orrore, dalla veglia e dall’attenzione spasmodica. Teneva stretto in mano un aggeggio rudimentale, che si era costruito con un bastoncello e un pezzo di rete metallica, e il muro accanto a lui era coperto di una lurida costellazione di macchie sanguigne.
In principio queste sue abitudini erano state derise: aveva forse la pelle più fina di noi altri? Ma poi la pietà aveva prevalso commista con una traccia di invidia; perché, fra tutti noi, D’Agata era il solo il cui nemico fosse concreto, presente, tangibile, suscettibile di essere combattuto, percosso, schiacciato contro il muro.”
― Primo Levi

“More often and more insistently as that time recedes, we are asked by the young who our "torturers" were, of what cloth were they made. The term torturers alludes to our ex-guardians, the SS, and is in my opinion inappropriate: it brings to mind twisted individuals, ill-born, sadists, afflicted by an original flaw. Instead, they were made of the same cloth as we, they were average human beings, averagely intelligent, averagely wicked: save the exceptions, they were not monsters, they had our faces, but they had been reared badly. They were, for the greater part, diligent followers and functionaries, some frantically convinced of the Nazi doctrine, many indifferent, or fearful of punishment, or desirous of a good career, or too obedient. All of them had been subjected to the terrifying miseducation provided for and imposed by the schools created in accordance with the wishes of Hitler and his collaborators, and then completed by the SS "drill." Many had joined this militia because of the prestige it conferred, because of its omnipotence, or even just to escape family problems. Some, very few in truth, had changes of heart, requested transfers to the front lines, gave cautious help to prisoners or chose suicide. Let it be clear that to a greater or lesser degree all were responsible, but it must bee just as clear that behind their responsibility stands that the great majority of Germans who accepted in the beginning, out of mental laziness, myopic calculation, stupidity, and national pride the "beautiful words" of Corporal Hitler, followed him as long as luck and lack of scruples favored him, were swept away by his ruin, afflicted by deaths, misery, and remorse, and rehabilitated a few years later as the result of an unprincipled political game.”
― Primo Levi

“Se è vero che non c’�� maggior dolore che ricordarsi del tempo felice nella miseria, è altrettanto vero che rievocare un’angoscia ad animo tranquillo, seduti quieti alla scrivania, è fonte di soddisfazione profonda.”
― Primo Levi, The Periodic Table

“Cedo ou tarde, na vida, cada um de nós se dá conta de que a felicidade completa é irrealizável; poucos, porém, atentam para a reflexão oposta: que também é irrealizável a infelicidade completa. Os motivos que se opõem à realização de ambos os estados-limite são da mesma natureza; eles vêm de nossa condição humana, que é contra qualquer “infinito��.”
― Primo Levi, If This is a Man: Remembering Auschwitz

“Dal Ka-Be la musica non si sente bene: arriva assiduo e monotono il martellare della grancassa e dei piatti, ma su questa trama le frasi musicali si disegnano solo a intervalli, col capriccio del vento. Noi ci guardiamo l'un l'altro nei nostri letti, perchè tutti sentiamo che questa è musica infernale.
I motivi sono pochi, una dozzina, ogni giorno gli stessi, mattina e sera: marce e canzoni popolari care a ogni tedesco. Esse giacciono incise nelle nostre menti, saranno l'ultima cosa del Lager che dimenticheremo: sono la voce del Lager, l'espressione sensibile della sua follia geometrica, della risoluzione altrui di annullarci prima come uomoni per ucciderci poi lentamente.
Quando questa musica suona, noi sappiamo che i compagni, fuori nella nebbia, partono in marcia come automi; le loro anime sono morte e la musica li sospinge, come il vento le foglie secche, e si sostituisce alla loro volontà. Non c'è più volontà, ogni pulsazione diventa un passo, una contrazione rilflessa dei muscoli sfatti. [...] Ma dove andiamo non sappiamo. Potremo forse sopravvivere alle malattie e sfuggire alle scelte, forse anche resistere al lavoro e alla fame che ci consumano: e dopo? Qui, lontani momentaneamente dalle bestiemme e dai colpi, possiamo rientrare in noi stessi e meditare, e allora diventa chiaro che non ritorneremo. Noi abbiamo viaggiato fin qui nei vagoni piombati; noi abbiamo visto partire verso il niente le nostre donne e i nostri bambini; noi fatti schiavi abbiamo marciato centro volte avanti e indietro alla fatica muta, spenti nell'anima prima che dalla morte anonima. Noi non ritorneremo. Nessuno deve uscire di qui, che potrebbe portare al mondo, insieme col segno impresso nella carne, la mala novella di quanto ad Auschwitz, è bastato animo all'uomo di fare all'uomo.”
― Primo Levi

“Sớm hay muộn trong cuộc đời mình mỗi người s�� khám phá ra rằng hạnh phúc hoàn hảo là không có thật, nhưng ít ai chịu ngẫm nghĩ v�� điều ngược lại: rằng một s�� bất hạnh hoàn hảo cũng không h�� có. Những vật cản đ�� tiến tới hai thái cực này đều cùng một dạng: đều là vì đặc trưng của con người vốn luôn phản kháng lại những điều tuyệt đối, vô hạn. Những đặc trưng ấy bắt nguồn t�� hiểu biết chẳng bao gi�� đ�� của chúng ta v�� tương lai mà ta vẫn gọi khi thì hi vọng, khi thì là s�� bất trắc v�� ngày mai; là cái chết rồi s�� đến của mỗi đời người, chết là chấm hết mọi niềm sung sướng cũng như mọi nỗi kh�� đau; là những nỗi lo vật chất không tránh khỏi, có th�� làm vẩn đục bất c�� hạnh phúc lâu dài nào cũng như có th�� làm lãng đi những nỗi thống kh��, làm gián đoạn ý thức con người v�� nỗi bất hạnh của mình và khiến nó tr�� nên chịu đựng được.”
― Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz

“Cerrato said seriously that indeed sometimes things went like that, and that he would try to come up with something; but in general it was really dark all the time. You couldn't see the glimmer, you beat your head again and again against an ever lower ceiling, and ended by coming out of the cave on your hands and knees and backward, a little older than when you went in.”
― Primo Levi, The Periodic Table

“(...) justamente porque o Campo é uma grande engrenagem para nos transformar em animais, não devemos nos transformar em animais; até num lugar como este, pode-se sobreviver, para relatar a verdade, para dar nosso depoimento; e, para viver, é essencial esforçar-nos por salvar ao menos a estrutura, a forma da civilização. Sim, somos escravos, despojados de qualquer direito, expostos a qualquer injúria, destinados a uma morte quase certa, mas ainda nos resta uma opção. Devemos nos esforçar por defendê-la a todo custo, justamente porque é a última: a opção de recusar nosso consentimento. Portanto, devemos nos lavar, sim; ainda que sem sabão, com essa água suja e usando o casaco como toalha. Devemos engraxar os sapatos, não porque assim reza o regulamento, e sim por dignidade e alinho. Devemos marchar eretos, sem arrastar os pés, não em homenagem à disciplina prussiana, e sim para continuarmos vivos, para não começarmos a morrer.”
― Primo Levi, If This is a Man: Remembering Auschwitz

“A Rússia e a Normandia ficavam tão longe, e tão perto o inverno, tão concretas a fome e a desolação e tão irreal todo o resto. Parecia impossível que existisse realmente um mundo e um tempo, a não ser nosso mundo de lama e nosso tempo estéril e estagnado, para o qual já não conseguíamos imaginar um fim.”
― Primo Levi, If This is a Man: Remembering Auschwitz

“De minha vida de então, só me resta o que basta para sofrer a fome e o frio; já não sou vivo o bastante para ter a força de acabar comigo.”
― Primo Levi, If This is a Man: Remembering Auschwitz

“Destruir o homem é difícil, quase tanto como criá-lo: custou, levou tempo, mas vocês, alemães, conseguiram. Aqui estamos, dóceis sob o seu olhar; de nós, vocês não têm mais nada a temer. Nem atos de revolta, nem palavras de desafio, nem um olhar de julgamento.”
― Primo Levi, If This is a Man: Remembering Auschwitz

“Like Rumkowski, we too are so dazzled by power and prestige as to forget our essential fragility. Willingly or not we come to terms with
power, forgetting that we are all in the ghetto, that the ghetto is walled in, that outside the
ghetto reign the lords of death, and that close by the train is waiting.”
― Primo Levi

“Like Rumkowski, we too are so dazzled by power and prestige as to forget our essential fragility. Willingly or not we come to terms with power, forgetting that we are all in the ghetto, that the ghetto is walled in, that outside the ghetto reign the lords of death, and that close by the train is waiting.”
― Primo Levi, Moments of Reprieve