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The work of bestial degradation, begun by the victorious Germans, had been carried to its conclusion by the Germans in defeat.

Primo Levi

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Primo Levi
Age: 67 †
Born: 1919
Born: July 31
Died: 1987
Died: April 11
Author
Autobiographer
Chemist
Novelist
Philosopher
Poet
Politician
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
Turin
Italy
Begun
Carried
Conclusion
Defeat
Work
Bestial
Victorious
Germans
Degradation

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If it is true that there is no greater sorrow than to remember a happy time in a state of misery, it is just as true that calling up a moment of anguish in a tranquil mood, seated quietly at one's desk, is a source of profound satisfaction.
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Perfection belongs to narrated events, not to those we live.
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Dawn came on us like a betrayer it seemed as though the new sun rose as an ally of our enemies to assist in our destruction.
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I am constantly amazed by man's inhumanity to man.
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A man who would mutilate himself is well damned, isn't he?
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The living are more demanding the dead can wait.
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I am not even alive enough to know how to kill myself
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To give a name to a thing is as gratifying as giving a name to an island, but it is also dangerous: the danger consists in one's becoming convinced that all is taken care of and that once named, the phenomenon has also been explained.
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Nothing can be said: nothing sure, nothing probable, nothing honest. Better to err through omission than through commission: better to refrain from steering the fate of others, since it is already so difficult to navigate one's own.
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Today I think that if for no other reason than that an Auschwitz existed, no one in our age should speak of Providence.
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Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his habits, his clothes, in short, of everything he possesses: he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs, forgetful of dignity and restraint, for he who loses all often loses himself.
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The sea's only gifts are harsh blows and, occasionally, the chance to feel strong.
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It is this refrain that we hear repeated by everyone: you are not at home, this is not a sanatorium, the only exit is by way of the Chimney. (What did it mean? Soon we were all to learn what it meant.)
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We collected in a group in front of their door, and we experienced within ourselves a grief that was new for us, the ancient grief of the people that has no land, the grief without hope of the exodus which is renewed in every century.
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Everybody is somebody's Jew.
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Perhaps Kafka laughed when he told stories [. . . ] because one isn't always equal to oneself.
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The aims of life are the best defense against death.
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Monsters exist, but they are too few in numbers to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are…the functionaries ready to believe and act without asking questions.
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Each of us bears the imprint of a friend met along the way In each the trace of each.
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I too entered the Lager as a nonbeliever, and as a nonbeliever I was liberated and have lived to this day.
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