Eddie Jaku Quotes

Here is what I learned. Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love. And if you are happy and healthy, you are a millionaire.

A field is empty, but if you put in the effort to grow something then you will have a garden. And that’s life. Give something, something will come back. Give nothing, nothing will come back. To grow a flower is a miracle: it means you can grow more. Remember that a flower is not just a flower, it is the start of a whole garden.

Your efforts today will affect people you will never know. It is your choice whether that effect is positive or negative. You can choose every day, every minute, to act in a way that may uplift a stranger, or else drag them down. The choice is easy. And it is yours to make.

It is never too late to be kind, polite, and a loving human being.

Hate is the beginning of a disease, like cancer. It may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process too.

Shared sorrow is half sorrow; shared pleasure is double pleasure.

Kindness is the greatest wealth of all. Small acts of kindness last longer than a lifetime. This lesson, that kindness and generosity and faith in your fellow man are more important than money, is the first and greatest lesson my father ever taught me. And in this way he will always be with us, and always live forever.

There are always miracles in the world, even when all seems hopeless. And when there are no miracles, you can make them happen. With a simple act of kindness, you can save another person from despair, and that might just save their life. And this is the greatest miracle of all.

If you have the opportunity today, please go home and tell your mother how much you love her. Do this for your mother. And do it for your new friend, Eddie, who cannot tell it to his mother.

You don't want to fall in love with a reflection of yourself! A strong partnership is with a man or a woman who is different from you, who challenges you to try new things, to become a better person.

I never lost sight of what it was to be civilised. I knew that there would be no point surviving if I had to become an evil man to do it.

You see, your food is not enough. There is no medicine for your morals. If your morals are gone, you go.

My father used to say to me there is more pleasure in giving than in taking, that the important things in life - friends, family, kindness - are far more precious than money. A man is worth more than his bank account.

In my mind, this is really the best revenge, and it is the only revenge I am interested in – to be the happiest man on Earth.

If enough people had stood up then, on Kristallnacht, and said, ‘Enough! What are you doing? What is wrong with you?’ then the course of history would have been different. But they did not. They were scared. They were weak. And their weakness allowed them to be manipulated into hatred.

Why argue with the people you love? Go out on the street, stop a person littering and argue with them.

it took many years to realise that as long as I still held fear and pain in my heart, I would not truly be free.

A friend is someone who reminds you to feel alive.

Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of unified Germany, once warned the world to watch out for the German people. With a good leader, they were the greatest nation on Earth. With a bad leader, they were monsters.

If you are lucky enough to have money and a nice house, you can afford to help those who don’t,’ he would tell me. ‘This is what life is all about. To share your good fortune.

With a simple act of kindness, you can save another person from despair, and that might just save their life. And this is the greatest miracle of all.

There is no medicine for your morals. If your morals are gone, you go.

There are always miracles in the world, even when it seems dark.

Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love. And if you are healthy and happy, you are a millionaire.

There are many things in this world that no amount of money will buy you, and some things priceless beyond measure. Family first, family second, and family at the last.

If you are not free in your heart, don’t take away your children’s freedom. I always tell my children, ‘I brought you into this world because I wanted to love you. You owe me nothing but that. All I need from you is your affection and respect.’ This is what I’m proud of – my family is my achievement.

it was sometimes hard for the good Germans to make themselves known. They had to know that they could trust you. If they were caught helping a Jew, it would mean death for them too. The oppressors were just as afraid as the oppressed. This is fascism – a system that makes victims of everybody.

I still can't understand how people with whom I went to work, with whom I studied and played sport, could become animals like that. How was it that Hitler could make enemies of friends, turn civilised men into inhuman zombies? How is it possible to create such hate?

Here are the lines I try to live by, and which I like to include when I speak publicly: May you always have lots of love to share, Lots of good health to spare, And lots of good friends who care.

Perhaps you do not love your job, or you work with difficult people. You are still doing important things, contributing your own small piece to the world we live in. We must never forget this. Your efforts today will affect people you will never know. It is your choice whether that effect is positive or negative. You can choose every day, every minute, to act in a way that may uplift a stranger, or else drag them down. The choice is easy. And it is yours to make.

Where there is life, there is hope. And where there is hope, there is life.

I promised when I came out of the darkest hours of my life that I would be happy for the rest of my life and smile, because if you smile, the world smiles with you.

Auschwitz was a living nightmare, a place of unimaginable horrors. But I survived because I owed it to my friend Kurt to survive, to live another day so that I might see him again. Having even just one good friend means that the world takes on new meaning. One good friend can be your entire world. This, more than the food we shared or the warm clothes or the medicine, was the most important thing. The best balm for the soul is friendship. And with that friendship, we could do the impossible.

Don’t blame others for your misfortunes. No one has ever said that life is easy, but it is easier if you love it. If you hate your life, it becomes impossible to live.

May you always have lots of love to share, Lots of good health to spare, And lots of good friends who care.

I brought you into this world because I wanted to love you. You owe me nothing but that. All I need from you is your affection and respect.

the greatest thing you will ever do is be loved by another person.

Siempre se producen milagros en el mundo, incluso cuando todo parece sombrío

It wasn’t just Nazi soldiers and fascist thugs who turned against us. Ordinary citizens, our friends and neighbours since before I was born, joined in the violence and the looting.

The oppressors were just as afraid as the oppressed. This is fascism – a system that makes victims of everybody.

life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful.

It is the duty of the fortunate to help those who are suffering and that it is better to give than to receive. There are always miracles in the world, even when all seems hopeless. When there are no miracles, you can make them happen. With a simple act of kindness you can save another person from despair and that may just save their life. And this is the greatest miracle of all.

You don’t want to fall in love with a reflection of yourself! A strong partnership is with a man or a woman who is different from you, who challenges you to try new things, to become a better person.

Here is what I learned. Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love. And if you are healthy and happy, you are a millionaire.

You have to try to be happy with what you’ve got. Life is wonderful if you’re happy. Don’t look on the other side of the fence. You will never be happy if you look at your neighbour and make yourself sick with jealousy.

Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love. And if you are healthy and happy, you are a millionaire. And happiness is the only thing in the world that doubles each time you share it.

For the guards who persecuted us, discipline was more important than common sense. If a soldier is told to march, they will march. If they are told to shoot a man in the back, they will do it, and never question if it is right or wrong. The Germans made a religion of logic, and it turned them into murderers.

Kindness is the greatest wealth of all. Small acts of kindness last longer than a lifetime. This lesson, that kindness and generosity and faith in your fellow man are more important than money, is the first and greatest lesson my father ever taught me. And in this way he will always be with us, and always live forever. Here are the lines I try to live by, and which I like to include when I speak publicly: May you always have lots of love to share, Lots of good health to spare, And lots of good friends who care.

I am still in awe of the human body and what it is capable of. I am a precision engineer, and I have spent years making the most complicated, intricate machinery, but I could not make a machine like the human body. It is the best machine ever made. It turns fuel into life, can repair itself, can do anything you need it to. That is why today it breaks my heart to see the way some people treat their bodies, ruining this wonderful machine we are all gifted by smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, poisoning themselves with drugs. They are demolishing the best machine ever put onto this Earth, and it is such a terrible waste.” ― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor

No camines detrás de mí, puede que no te guíe. No camines delante de mí, puede que no te siga. Camina a mi lado y bríndame tu amistad.

May you always have lots of love to share, Lots of good health to spare, And lots of good friends who care.

Supranti, vien maisto nepakanka. Žlugusiai moralei vaistų nėra. Kai nebelieka moralės, nebelieka ir tavęs.

Als je het opgeeft, als je zegt dat er niets meer is om voor te leven, houd je het niet lang meer vol. Waar leven is, daar is hoop. En waar hoop is, daar is leven.

Vriendelijkheid is de grootste weelde die er bestaat. Kleine, vriendelijke daden duren langer dan een leven.

Why argue with the people you love? Go out on the street, stop a person littering and argue with them. There are a million better people to argue with

What I have to share is not my pain. What I share is my hope.

If you are lucky enough to have money and a nice house, you can afford to help those who don’t,’ he would tell me.

Life is wonderful if you’re happy. Don’t look on the other side of the fence. You will never be happy if you look at your neighbour and make yourself sick with jealousy.

And if you are healthy and happy, you are a millionaire.

Having even just one good friend

May you always have love to share, may you always have health to spare and may you always have friends that care

had learned early in life that we are all part of a larger society and our work is our contribution to a free and safe life for all.

Shared sorrow is half sorrow, but shared pleasure is double pleasure.

Anger leads to fear, which leads to hate, which leads to death.

Here is what I learned. Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love.

This is how I found out I was an orphan.

One day we were friends, neighbours, colleagues, and the next we were told we were sworn enemies.

All I need from you is your affection and respect.’ This is what I’m proud of – my family is my achievement.

Having even just one good friend means that the world takes on new meaning. One good friend can be your entire world.

la felicidad es una elección que depende de ti. Y

«Si tienes la gran suerte de tener dinero y una casa bonita, puedes permitirte el lujo de ayudar a los necesitados

Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love. And if you are healthy and happy, you are a millionaire

Here is what I learned. Happiness does not fall from the sky; it is in your hands. Happiness comes from inside yourself and from the people you love. And if you're healthy and happy you are a millionaire.

Do I hate that man? No, I do not hate anyone. He was just weak and probably as scared as I was. He let his fear overtake his morals. And I know that for every cruel person in the world, there is a kind one.

My father used to say to me there is more pleasure in giving than in taking, that the important things in life – friends, family, kindness – are far more precious than money. A man is worth more than his bank account

Auschwitz was about survival, but it would not have been possible to survive without a good friend. Without the kindness and friendship of other people who went out of their way to help me, I would not have lasted a month.

There is a poem in my mother tongue that expresses our feelings: Menschen sterben (people die) Blumen welken (flowers wilt) Eisen und stahl bricht (iron and steel break) Aber unsere frundshaft nicht (but not our friendship)

Het belangrijkste wat ik ooit heb geleerd is het volgende: het mooiste wat je ooit zult meemaken, is dat een ander van je houdt. Zonder vriendschap is een mens verloren. Een vriend is iemand die je doet beseffen dat je leeft.

I always tell my children, ‘I brought you into this world because I wanted to love you. You owe me nothing but that. All I need from you is your affection and respect.’ This is what I’m proud of – my family is my achievement.

you is your affection and respect.’ This is what I’m proud of – my family is my achievement. There is nothing so wonderful as to see your family grow and thrive, and to experience the happiness your children feel as they become parents themselves.

Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of unified Germany, once warned the world to watch out for the German people. With a good leader, they were the greatest nation on Earth. With a bad leader, they were monsters. For the guards who persecuted us, discipline was more important than common sense. If a soldier is told to march, they will march. If they are told to shoot a man in the back, they will do it, and never question if it is right or wrong. The Germans made a religion of logic, and it turned them into murderers.

I have a belief that if you have good morale, if you can hang onto hope, your body can do miraculous things. Tomorrow will come. When you’re dead, you’re dead, but where there is life, there is hope. Why not give hope a chance? It costs you nothing! And, my friend, I lived.

Many from my generation raised their children with the shadow of this hatred and fear. It does your children no good to teach them to be afraid. This is their life! They should celebrate every minute of it. You brought them into this world, you must support them, help them, not push them down with negative thinking. This is an important lesson that we survivors must understand. If you are not free in your heart, don’t take away your children’s freedom. I always tell my children, ‘I brought you into this world because I wanted to love you. You owe me nothing but that. All I need from

I am still in awe of the human body and what it is capable of. I am a precision engineer, and I have spent years making the most complicated, intricate machinery, but I could not make a machine like the human body. It is the best machine ever made. It turns fuel into life, can repair itself, can do anything you need it to. That is why today it breaks my heart to see the way some people treat their bodies, ruining this wonderful machine we are all gifted by smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, poisoning themselves with drugs. They are demolishing the best machine ever put onto this Earth, and it is such a terrible waste.

Hate is the beginning of a disease, like cancer. It may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process too. Don’t blame others for your misfortunes. No one has ever said that life is easy, but it is easier if you love it. If you hate your life, it becomes impossible to live. This is why I try to be kind.

Having even just one good friend means that the world takes on new meaning. One good friend can be your entire world. This, more than the food we shared or the warm clothes or the medicine, was the most important thing. The best balm for the soul is friendship. And with that friendship, we could do the impossible.

Flore and I were very different people, but that is what made me so enchanted with her. I was very sensible, and methodical and I like to work with machines and numbers. She loved meeting new people, to listen to music, cook good food and go to the theater. When we went to a show together she would know the works off by heart and could whisper the lines of the same time the actors did! But this is what made us such a good pair. You don't want to fall in love with the reflection of yourself! A strong partnership is with a man or a woman who is different from you, who challenges you to try new things, to become a better person.

I try to teach this to every young person I meet. Your mother does everything for you. Let her know you appreciate her, let her know that you love her. Why argue with the people you love? Go out on the street, stop a person littering and argue with them. There are a million better people to argue with than your mum!

I never lost sight of what it was to be civilised. I knew that there would be no point surviving if I had to become an evil man to do it. I never hurt another prisoner, I never stole another man’s bread, and I did all I could to help my fellow man. You see, your food is not enough. There is no medicine for your morals. If your morals are gone, you go.

Een veld is leeg, maar als je je best doet om er iets in te laten groeien, krijg je een tuin. En zo is het leven. Geef iets en er komt iets terug. Geef niets en er zal niets terugkomen. Het is een wonder om een bloem te laten groeien: het houdt in dat je er meer kunt laten opkomen. Besef dat een bloem niet slechts een bloem is, maar het begin van een hele tuin.

Each year, Flore and I celebrate our wedding anniversary on 20 April - Hitler's birthday. We are still here; Hitler is down there. Sometimes, when we are sitting in the evening in front of the television with a cup of tea and a biscuit, I think, aren't we lucky? In my mind, this is really the best revenge, and it is the only revenge I'm interested in - to be the happiest man on earth.

Each year, Flore entice celebrate our wedding anniversary on 20 April - Hitler's birthday. We are still here; Hitler is down there. Sometimes, when we are sitting in the evening in front of the television with a cup of tea and a biscuit, I think, aren't we lucky? In my mind, this is really the best revenge, and it is the only revenge I'm interested in - to be the happiest man on earth.

You are still doing important things, contributing your own small piece to the world we live in. We must never forget this. Your efforts today will affect people you will never know. It is your choice whether that effect is positive or negative. You can choose every day, every minute, to act in a way that may uplift a stranger, or else drag them down. The choice is easy. And it is yours to make.

promised when I came out of the darkest hours of my life that I would be happy for the rest of my life and smile, because if you smile, the world smiles with you. Life is not always happiness. Sometimes, there are many hard days. But you must remember that you are lucky to be alive – we are all lucky in this way. Every breath is a gift. Life is beautiful if you let it be. Happiness is in your hands.

I promised when I came out of the darkest hours of my life that I would be happy for the rest of my life and smile, because if you smile, the world smiles with you. Life is not always happiness. Sometimes, there are many hard days. But you must remember that you are lucky to be alive – we are all lucky in this way. Every breath is a gift. Life is beautiful if you let it be. Happiness is in your hands.

So, after you put this book down, please, remember to take time to appreciate every moment of your life – the good, the bad. Sometimes there will be tears. Sometimes there will be laughter. And if you are lucky, there will be friends to share it all with, as I have known throughout my life. Please, every day, remember to be happy, and to make others happy too. Make yourself a friend to the world. Do this for your new friend, Eddie.

Toen ik uit de meest duistere uren van mijn leven tevoorschijn kwam, nam ik me voor om de rest van mijn leven gelukkig te zijn, met een glimlach op mijn gezicht, want als je glimlacht, lacht de wereld met je mee. Het leven bestaat niet altijd uit geluk. Soms zijn er vele zware dagen. Maar je moet beseffen dat je geluk hebt dat je leeft - zo hebben we allemaal geluk. Elke ademteug is een cadeau. Het leven is prachtig als je dat toelaat. Je hebt het geluk in eigen hand.

Tai buvo beprotybė tikrąja to žodžio prasme - malonūs, civilizuoti žmonės neteko gebėjimo atskirti, kas teisinga ir kas ne. Jie darė siaubingus dalykus ir - dar blogiau - jais mėgavosi. Manė, kad elgiasi teisingai. Ir netgi tie, kurie neįstengė savęs apkvailinti, neva žydai staiga tapo priešais, nieko nedarė, kad sustabdytų minią. Jeigu tada, per Krištolinę naktį, pakankamai žmonių būtų sustoję ir pasakę: "Gana! Ką jūs darot? Kas jums pasidarė?" - istorija būtų psaisukusi kita kryptimi. Bet jie nesustojo ir nepasakė. Jie bijojo. Buvo silpni. Ir dėl to silpnumo leidosi manipuliuojami, leido užgimti neapykantai.

Shoot them!’ they cried. ‘Shoot the Jewish dogs!’ What had happened to my German friends that they became murderers? How is it possible to create enemies from friends, to create such hate? Where was the Germany I had been so proud to be a part of, the country where I was born, the country of my ancestors? One day we were friends, neighbours, colleagues, and the next we were told we were sworn enemies. When I think of those Germans relishing our pain, I want to ask them, ‘Have you got a soul? Have you got a heart?’ It was madness, in the true sense of the word – otherwise civilised people lost all ability to tell right from wrong. They committed terrible atrocities, and worse, they enjoyed it. They thought they were doing the right thing. And even those who could not fool themselves that we Jews were the enemy did nothing to stop the mob.

That night, atrocities were being committed by civilised Germans all over Leipzig, all over the country. Nearly every Jewish home and business in my city was vandalised, burned or otherwise destroyed, as were our synagogues. As were our people. It wasn’t just Nazi soldiers and fascist thugs who turned against us. Ordinary citizens, our friends and neighbours since before I was born, joined in the violence and the looting. When the mob was done destroying property, they rounded up Jewish people – many of them young children – and threw them into the river that I used to skate on as a child. The ice was thin and the water freezing. Men and women I’d grown up with stood on the riverbanks, spitting and jeering as people struggled. ‘Shoot them!’ they cried. ‘Shoot the Jewish dogs!’ What had happened to my German friends that they became murderers? How is it possible to create enemies from friends, to create such hate? Where was the Germany I had been so proud to be a part of, the country where I was born, the country of my ancestors? One day we were friends, neighbours, colleagues, and the next we were told we were sworn enemies. When I think of those Germans relishing our pain, I want to ask them, ‘Have you got a soul? Have you got a heart?’ It was madness, in the true sense of the word – otherwise civilised people lost all ability to tell right from wrong. They committed terrible atrocities, and worse, they enjoyed it. They thought they were doing the right thing. And even those who could not fool themselves that we Jews were the enemy did nothing to stop the mob. If enough people had stood up then, on Kristallnacht, and said, ‘Enough! What are you doing? What is wrong with you?’ then the course of history would have been different. But they did not. They were scared. They were weak. And their weakness allowed them to be manipulated into hatred. As they loaded me onto a truck to take me away, blood mixing with the tears on my face, I stopped being proud to be German. Never again.