Before, I always lived in anticipation… that it was all a preparation for something else, something "greater," more "genuine." But that feeling has dropped away from me completely. I live here and now, this minute, this day, to the full, and the life is worth living.

About Etty Hillesum

Esther "Etty" Hillesum (15 January 1914 – 30 November 1943) was a Dutch Jewish author of confessional letters and diaries which describe both her religious awakening and the persecutions of Jewish people in Amsterdam during the German occupation. In 1943, she was deported and murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

More quotations from Etty Hillesum

We are always in search of the redeeming formula, the crystallizing thought.

—Etty Hillesum

One must also accept that one has 'uncreative' moments. The more honestly one can accept that, the quicker these moments will pass.

—Etty Hillesum

So much that was beautiful and so much that was hard to bear. Yet whenever I showed myself ready to bear it, the hard was directly transformed into the beautiful.

—Etty Hillesum

beauty struggle

We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.

—Etty Hillesum

relaxation

History

23 Nov 2014 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

Before, I always lived in anticipation . . . that it was all a preparation for something else, something "greater," more "genuine." But that feeling has dropped away from me completely. I live here and now, this minute, this day, to the full, and the life is worth living.