PROF. WIESEL: Sometimes [students] ask me, "What should we take away from your classes?" And a few times, I came up with a formula, which I'm not sure is always good. I said simply: "Look, whatever you do in life, remember: Think higher and feel deeper. It cannot be bad if you do that."
OPRAH: Mmm... that will be with me for the rest of my life: "Think higher." ...And what is it you most want the world to know?
PROF. WIESEL: That if there is one person on the planet who still is suffering from loneliness and from pain or despair, and we don't know about it, or we don't want to know about it, then something is wrong with the world.
OPRAH: And each of us, through our wanting to know and wanting the other person, whomever that is, to not feel alone.
PROF. WIESEL: That's exactly it. I cannot cure everybody. I cannot help everybody. But to tell the lonely person that I am not far or different from that lonely person, that I am with him or her, that's all I think we can do and we should do.
Here's more from both of them on Oprah's site
Sometimes I do readings for people who feel profoundly lonely and alone in their loneliness. The tarot is about commonalities, the threads that tie us all together. In their readings, I try to emphasize those threads.
I know that loneliness can lead to despair, that despair can lead to hopelessness. It's so important to challenge our feelings of loneliness, to find where we connect to others, to reach out. Yes, some people may disapoint us, but not all... and where there people with the wisdom and stature of Eli Wiesel around, they can make us brave, and we can feel that reaching out is worth the risk.
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