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I find it interesting to see the way Carrie's love of reading and types of books she enjoys has shifted over the years. When she was much younger it was difficult to find books that would challenge her reading skills, but not expose her to content she wasn't ready for. With that barrier removed, there are so many good books to enjoy.

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My first memory of reading is from preschool. We would read these books every day and move up to the next level once we finished the box.

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The first chapter book I remember reading is Junie B. Jones when I was in first grade. Reading this book is what made me enjoy reading chapter books.

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"Everybody deserves a chance, even if they don't deserve it"

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When I was in 3rd grade I developed a love for historical fiction. This book is one of my favorites and what got me into reading outside of school.

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"The golden arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross"

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I read this book about the fast food industry at school in 6th grade and it was so bad that it made me hate reading. I stopped reading books for fun until about 8th grade.

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"Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere"

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When I read this book in 8th grade it sparked my love for reading again. It was so powerful and meaningful to me and made me realize how powerful and enjoyable books can be. After reading this, I shifted to reading more meaningful and adult books.

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https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/acceptance-speech/

This is a link to Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize acceptance speech which I did a project on in 10th grade after being inspired by this book.

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Elie Wiesel held his Acceptance Speech on 10 December 1986, in the Oslo City Hall, Norway.

(The speech differs somewhat from the written speech.)

Elie Wiesel's Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1986

It is with a profound sense of humility that I accept the honor you have chosen to bestow upon me. I know: your choice transcends me. This both frightens and pleases me.

It frightens me because I wonder: do I have the right to represent the multitudes who have perished? Do I have the right to accept this great honor on their behalf? ... I do not. That would be presumptuous. No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions.

It pleases me because I may say that this honor belongs to all the survivors and their children, and through us, to the Jewish people with whose destiny I have always identified.

I remember: it happened yesterday or eternities ago. A young Jewish boy discovered the kingdom of night. I remember his bewilderment, I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car. The fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed.

I remember: he asked his father: "Can this be true?" This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?

And now the boy is turning to me: "Tell me," he asks. "What have you done with my future? What have you done with your life?"

And I tell him that I have tried. That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices. We could not prevent their deaths the first time, but if we forget them they will be killed a second time. And this time, it will be our responsibility.

And then I explained to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remain silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.

Of course, since I am a Jew profoundly rooted in my peoples' memory and tradition, my first response is to Jewish fears, Jewish needs, Jewish crises. For I belong to a traumatized generation, one that experienced the abandonment and solitude of our people. It would be unnatural for me not to make Jewish priorities my own: Israel, Soviet Jewry, Jews in Arab lands ... But there are others as important to me. Apartheid is, in my view, as abhorrent as anti-Semitism. To me, Andrei Sakharov's isolation is as much of a disgrace as Josef Biegun's imprisonment. As is the denial of Solidarity and its leader Lech Walesa's right to dissent. And Nelson Mandela 's interminable imprisonment.

There is so much injustice and suffering crying out for our attention: victims of hunger, of racism, and political persecution, writers and poets, prisoners in so many lands governed by the Left and by the Right. Human rights are being violated on every continent. More people are oppressed than free. And then, too, there are the Palestinians to whose plight I am sensitive but whose methods I deplore. Violence and terrorism are not the answer. Something must be done about their suffering, and soon. I trust Israel, for I have faith in the Jewish people. Let Israel be given a chance, let hatred and danger be removed from her horizons, and there will be peace in and around the Holy Land.

Yes, I have faith. Faith in God and even in His creation. Without it no action would be possible. And action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all. Isn't this the meaning of Alfred Nobel's legacy? Wasn't his fear of war a shield against war?

There is much to be done, there is much that can be done. One person - a Raoul Wallenberg, an Albert Schweitzer, one person of integrity, can make a difference, a difference of life and death. As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our lives will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.

This is what I say to the young Jewish boy wondering what I have done with his years. It is in his name that I speak to you and that I express to you my deepest gratitude. No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night. We know that every moment is a moment of grace, every hour an offering; not to share them would mean to betray them. Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately.

Thank you, Chairman Aarvik. Thank you, members of the Nobel Committee. Thank you, people of Norway, for declaring on this singular occasion that our survival has meaning for mankind.

To cite this section
MLA style: Elie Wiesel - Acceptance Speech. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Sat. 11 Nov 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/acceptance-speech/>

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See them all presented here.

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The Nobel Peace Prize 1986 was awarded to Elie Wiesel "for being a messenger to mankind: his message is one of peace, atonement and dignity"

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"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view"

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TKAM is one of my favorite books I have ever read. I read it in 9th grade and it make me realize that books that I have to read for school can be enjoyable as well.

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"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"

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This book is my all time favorite. I really enjoy the story, the characters, and the overall message. It is a very special book to me.

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"Sometimes letting go is the only way to find yourself"

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I read this book last summer and it was the first "Garbage" book that I have read. I really enjoyed it and these are the kinds of books I now like to read in my free time.

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"It is my spirit that addresses your spirit"

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My biggest challenge with reading is getting into books. Usually if the first couple chapters are boring and the book has a slow start, I will stop reading it. This is something I struggled with while reading "Jane Eyre".

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"Just because you're strong doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for help sometimes"

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(this is the book I am currently reading) My favorite thing about reading is getting to know the characters in each book and finding ways to connect with them.

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1. Read more classic literature (Ex: "Emma" or "Pride and Prejudice")

2. Complete an entire book series

3. Read at least one book every month

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After I rediscovered my love for reading, my mom, who is an avid reader herself, shared one of her favorite books, "Little Women" with me. I really enjoyed it and it gave me an appreciation for more classic literature.

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I am very glad that Carrie enjoys reading as much as she does and that it has opened her mind to many new ideas. Books are something that we can talk about together and bond over which makes me very happy.

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My dad has always enjoyed reading, however he is more interested in nonfiction than fiction. He has shared his love for nonfiction with me and to this day it is something I enjoy reading.

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I'm glad that Carrie enjoys reading because I don't. It's something that makes us different and that makes us both happy.