Esther “Etty” Hillesum (1914–43) was a Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943, describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation. They were published posthumously in 1981.
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I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.
—Etty Hillesum
Topics: Strength
I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one’s inner life. And that too is a deed.
—Etty Hillesum
Topics: Creativity
Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.
—Etty Hillesum
Topics: Peace
We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
—Etty Hillesum
Topics: Worry
If one finds the strength to deal with small things, one finds it to deal with the large ones as well.
—Etty Hillesum
Topics: Creativity
Every word born of an inner necessity – writing must never be anything else.
—Etty Hillesum
Topics: Writing
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